


Dramatic Irony

by IreneT447



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Bullying, Depression, Domestic Violence, F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-19
Updated: 2015-08-26
Packaged: 2018-03-13 17:35:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 23,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3390257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IreneT447/pseuds/IreneT447
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone knows about Zelda's many disguises. But just how far is she willing to go to find her true love? Byrne recently got a girl, Sheik of the Sheikah, and things are going swimmingly. Strangely, Sheik seems extremely averse to going on a double date with Link and Zelda. And when Nabooru walks into school with a new girlfriend Tetra on her arm, things get...interesting.<br/>Zelda is mistaken as her cousins, Sheik and Tetra, leading to the downfall of each of her friends. The lines between protagonist and antagonist are blurred when issues such as family, race, and sexual orientation get between friends during the time when they need each other the most.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Ooh," A high pitched voice intoned deviously, "does someone have a date tonight?"

Zelda spun around in her seat before the vanity. She clutched her heart and breathed heavily. Red and yellow eyes squinted out behind a mask of devilish humor.

"Midna!"

The flame haired Twili fell back onto Zelda's bed in a fit of laughter. Zelda scowled and returned her attention to the mirror. She wore a flowing dress dyed a rich purple with swirling floral designs reaching abstractly up the length of the body. She had been applying a light layer of make up before being startled by her best friend.

"Give me a heart attack, won't you?" The brunette muttered, "What brings you here?"

Midna righted herself, settling her petite black dress and sitting attentively on the pink comforter, "I just wanted to see you before Link does."

Zelda rolled her green eyes, "You could have called." She picked up her smart phone, "Or at least texted me."

"Someone sounds nervous."

"I am not!"

"You do too," Midna burst into another fit of laughter, and Zelda shot another glare in her direction through the mirror.

"I'm just angry that you warped in here without telling me," Zelda justified, clipping a silver chain around her neck.

"Or not," Midna grinned, literally floating over on a cloud of shadows to stand beside her friend, "I see that necklace. It's your good luck chain," The Twili waggled her finger, "You only wear that when you're expecting Divine Intervention to come to your rescue."

Zelda let out a hmph and shooed Midna away with a gentle shove. The Twili dramatically fell back against the bed with an even more dramatic sigh.

"So, Link's finally going to meet your parents tonight?" Midna cleared her throat.

Zelda responded with a tilt of her head, "That's right."

"Well?" Midna's voice rose, "Is this a good thing or a bad thing?"

Put her head in her hands and shook it, "I really don't know. It could go either way. Either my parents will love him, or…"

Midna made explosion sounds with her mouth, mimicking a mushroom cloud with her blue hands.

"That would be pretty accurate."

"Why?" Midna prompted with childish enthusiasm.

"Sometimes Link will do things…well, he's abrupt. And he won't always think before he speaks, or acts, for that matter. So long as he doesn't say anything inappropriate, I think we'll be just fine," Zelda elaborated.

"You might want to put a silencing charm on him," Midna winked, "Just to keep him quiet. I mean, he's handsome enough to get by with his devilishly good looks."

"Oh, I know," Zelda blushed.

"No, I mean, seriously. You might want to consider it."

Zelda laughed, "I don't even know how to do that. Would you mind teaching me?"

Midna wiggled her eyebrows, "Maybe some other time, you little princess."

Zelda stuck her tongue out at the moniker. She pulled her hair back and sighed. Dissatisfied, she undid it and started anew, brushing the brown ends furiously.

"So, how are things between you and Mr. Team Captain?" The Twili asked.

"Oh, the same. I mean, we just started dating, so it's pretty straightforward…He's nice to me, and I think he really cares."

Midna laughed, "That's what I thought about Zant. And then he dumped me when he found out he was gay and left me for some guy named Ghirahim."

Zelda's face pinched, "I really don't think Link is gay. Just a feeling."

Midna shrugged, "Well you never know until, well, you know," She laughed, "Have you ever considered dating several people at the same time just to get a feel for them before you go and choose?"

Zelda flashed her a horrified look.

"I'll take that as a 'no'."

"Is that…" Zelda whispered, "Is that even a thing? Do people do that?"

"It's what I've been doing," Midna admitted, " It's not bad, none of it's too serious. If you and Link aren't snogging yet, I don't think it's too late. Besides, you're doing disguises in magic class, aren't you? You could just dress up as someone else to avoid conflict."

Zelda continued to stare at her friend with a horrified expression. After a moment, she shook her head to clear it, "Now, that just sounds deceitful…I…"

Midna quirked an eyebrow, "What is it?"

"Well, I've been running around using disguises already. Sort of as practice. I'm using my acting so that I'll be ready for this year's musical. I've taken on a few personas, just running around the city, going into shops, cafes, amusement parks, you know?"

"Sure."

Zelda's face hardened, "But that doesn't mean I'll go and do that. I'll see how things go with my parents tonight. For all we know, Link will say something dumb and Dad will get a restraining order," She rolled her eyes, "Dad…"

Midna laughed, snapping her fingers. A plume of shadows erupted from the end of her index finger and deftly did Zelda's hair into a stylish side braid.

Zelda flashed her friend with a brilliant smile, relief flooding her chest.

"There you go," Midna grinned, "You little princess. So, where is Link now?"

Zelda rose from her seat at the vanity, packing away her makeup and brushes, "Oh, I don't know. Knowing him, he's probably off fencing with one of his friends."

__________

"-Hyah!"

"-Toh!"

Link shook the sweat from his eyes from beneath the mask. He crept forward in his stance, waiting for his opponent to make a move. At the sign of a foot opening, he lunged, scoring a point.

Byrne was a much larger boy in build. At first, Link had trouble scoring points due to the other's shockingly rapid reflexes, but after having practiced for nearly two years with one another, Link was able to get beneath the other boy's guard. Both boys were on the Hylian Academy's varsity fencing team. Although Link was the male team captain, there were no hard feelings between the two rather competitive seventeen year olds. In fact, they were the best of friends.

"Nice." Byrne panted as they reset, "Are we tied again?"

Link nodded, exhausted, "Yeah, wanna call it a day."

Byrne removed his mask, his black hair haphazardly falling out of its ponytail. The Lokomo looked up to the giant clock with his narrow amber eyes, squinting at it as the hands read four o'clock, "We've been going at it for almost two hours. Yeah, I'm beat. Got somewhere to be?"

"Yup," Link nodded, "We'll continue this tomorrow during practice, right?"

"Right," Byrne replied, grasping Link's hand in a firm handshake, "Good match."

Byrne mopped the sweat from his brow before tossing the towel into his gym bag. As he zipped his school's fencing uniform in, Link sauntered in from the showers, knocking water from his pointed ears.

"Fancy footwork," The blonde swordsman commented, "Have you been practicing?"

Byrne nodded, undoing his long black hair from its ponytail to comb it out.

"Yeah, Aunt Anjean has a friend who's been training me lately," Byrne said, "Are you still going to regional's?"

Link rotated his left shoulder and hissed as something cracked, "Nah. I'm going to sit out this time around."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Link shrugged, "The doctor told me to rest up. Can't argue, right?"

"Right. Shame, though. You were working really hard for this," Byrne commented, putting the comb down on the bench, "You don't have to have surgery or nothing, right?"

Link ran a hand through his wet hair, "No, it's not that bad. Just a bit of tendonitis. "

Byrne tied his hair off again with a concerned frown, "Should you be training?"

Link grabbed his gym back and started changing, "Oh, yeah. I'm clear for stuff like this. If I were to go to competition it'd be a totally different story," He slid into a white dress shirt and black pants, "How do I look?"

Byrne grinned, "Wait, is it Friday already?"

"It was seven days ago," Link ran his hands down his front, "Should I wear, like, a bow tie or something?"

"Nah, you look pretty great," Byrne smirked, "There's just one problem."

Link glanced up, blue eyes dead serious, "What's that?"

"Your hair looks stupid."

Byrne jumped up on the bench and assaulted his friend, running his sweaty hands through the blonde's hair. Link elbowed him and twisted his assailant into a choke hold. Byrne ran Link into a row of lockers while Link's grip tightened. The blonde grabbed Byrne's ponytail holder and undid it before giving his friend a rough noogie.

"Ok, uncle! Uncle!" Byrne gasped and Link released him.

Link turned towards a mirror, "What's your problem? Dude!" He flattened his hair.

Byrne gave a deep chuckle, "Oh, come on. You are so tense about this! You've met her parents before, haven't you?"

"Nope."

Byrne's grin disappeared, "Oh…"

"Yeah," Link barked, "Oh."

The blonde rolled his eyes in front of the mirror, "You're such a dumbass, you know that?"

"Okay, okay!" Byrne put his hands up, "I'm sorry. I honestly didn't know."

Link gave a huff and straightened out his shirt. He ran his hands through his hair again.

"Yeah, it's fine," Link shrugged it off and Byrne sat back down on the bench with their bags, "Alright. I need your opinion on something. Earrings or no earrings?" Link asked, pointing to his purple double piercings, "Zel's parents are pretty old fashioned."

Byrne threw his hands up, "Uh, excuse me?" He gestured to himself, "Single," Link gazed at him, blankly, and he continued, "You really want my advice on how to win over a girl's parents?"

"Right. No earrings, then," Link said, undoing the backs of the studs before walking over to his bag on the bench and slipping them in, "You know, you should get into the dating scene. It's a lot of fun. It'll get you out of the house for once. What do you do all day besides play videogames?"

"I don't really play videogames all that often," Byrne commented, "I dunno, fencing?" He laughed, "I read. I play guitar. I hang out with Nabooru and her crazy friends. Ralis has been emailing me about his trip overseas…"

Link shouldered his bag and stood, looming over Byrne, "You're practically a shut in. Come on. There's gotta be a girl you like."

Byrne groaned, "Why are you so interested in my love life? Or, lack thereof? I'm allowed to be single if I want, right?"

Link laughed, "You're miserable. Like, all the time. Would you at least consider it?"

Byrne rolled his eyes and huffed. Link grinned, glaring at Byrne, waiting for him to crack.

Byrne sighed, "Okay, if you really want to know, there's this girl at the café."

"Alright. Which one?" Link crossed his arms.

"You know! It's the one right across the street from the creepy mask shop."

"The Great Deku Tree Café?" Link inquired, a blonde eyebrow rising, "I've been there a couple of times. Hold on, I've never seen you there."

"What?" Byrne scoffed, "I get an iced chai every morning. Anyway, there's this girl always sitting by the window. It looks like she's studying music theory, or something. I haven't been able to look too closely."

"Iced chai? Seriously? You're so weird," Link responds, dryly, "Okay, continue. What's she like?"

"I haven't ever talked to her."

Link threw his hands up, "Then go talk to her! Get up, move your butt, and talk to her. You're musical, right? Talk to her about guitar, or something. Or just say hello so she knows you exist," Link recrossed his arms, turning, "I'd love to stick around and chat for longer, but I have to go. Aryll has a dance practice tonight, and since I have the car I have to drop her off before I go meet Zelda's parents."

Link slipped on a pair of shiny black dress shoes and headed out towards the door. Byrne sprang up, stretched with a grunt, and followed his friend, shouldering his bag on the way out. They exited the locker rooms and traveled down long quiet hallways.

"Hey," Byrne said, in parting at the school entrance, "Good luck tonight, yeah? Not that you'll need it."

Link pivoted and grinned, "Yeah, thanks. And you too. Text me and tell me how things go with this new girl."

Byrne mounted his bike and headed off. Down the streets he rode, sweating in the heavy heat of the late afternoon sun. Occasionally he would tip a water bottle back he had stashed in the holder between his legs, but the water was warm and stale tasting. He mentally chastised himself for not packing an extra bottle. He had brought full liter for practice with Link, he had already drank it all and he didn't want to carry extra weight on his back while he rode up and down hills.

As he passed through town, weaving off and on the pale sidewalk, he caught sight of the creepy mask shop and paused. Squeezing the breaks, he jumped off the bike and locked it against a street sign.

"Hi, can I help you?" The café girl asked the Lokomo, cheerfully, "Try the daily specials! We have chilled Goronade and freshly made Deku Sprout smoothies."

"Can I just have some iced raspberry juice?" Byrne asked, and she nodded.

"Ok, and what size will that be?"

"Large, for here."

"Coming right up!"

Byrne handed her a blue rupee in exchange for his drink. He wandered over to one of the wooden tables and sat down, stashing his bag beneath the seat. Leaning back he took stock of café. It was really slow during this time. There were only four other customers seated.

He wiped away the condensation from the edge of his chilled drink and took a sip. The seat by the far window near the café entrance was, disappointingly, void of the blonde girl he was accustomed to seeing hunched over a binder of sheet music.

His heart sank a little and he smirked at his own foolishness. Why did he even expect her to be there? She must only come during the morning.

Finishing off his drink, he placed the glass at a bussing station and left, unlocking and remounting his bike to return home to his aunt.


	2. Chapter 2

Link paced before the heavy mansion doors agitatedly. Zelda's estate was massive. It could have been taken directly from a posh movie set. He had felt his mouth go dry when announcing his arrival at the gates into a speaker, and when the gates lifted to welcome him, for just a moment, he wondered if he should turn around and leave. He hadn't of course. What kind of boyfriend would do something that cowardly? All it was going to be was a meeting, right? They would sit down, eat, exchange pleasantries, and get to know one another. Things were going to be fine.

Yeah right.

In all honestly, he thought his heart was going to burst from his chest any minute. He couldn't remember feeling this nervous since…well, ever. A week ago, Zelda told him he was going to meet her parents. He was like: okay, cool. I can do this. Can't be too hard, can it? Then he found out that Zelda's father was Daphnes Hylia. As in, THE DAPHNES HYLIA. You know, founder and CEO of one of the largest industrialized magic corporations in Hyrule. Yeah, him. Link wouldn't be surprised if he dropped in for dinner right through the ceiling from his private jet.

Oh, Link knew that Zelda was rich, and that her last name was Hylia. But Daphnes was practically a divine figure in his mind, so he never even thought to put two and two together. See, Link would consider his family middle class. They definitely weren't struggling – his parents had the occasional dispute over money when times were lean, but that was fairly natural, and he usually got whatever he wanted and paid for at least half of it himself. He as probably a lot better off than Byrne, who lived off his aunt's government pensions, but he wasn't so la-ti-da wealthy to be considered anywhere near being in the same class as Zelda's family. This was the cause of his anxiety. He didn't want to look like the kid who was after her money or something stupid like that.

He paused every once in awhile to straighten his shirt, rub a persistent crease out of his black pants, before continuing to mill. It was nearly dusk, the light above his head attracted swarms of insects. He just needed to take one more deep breath before ringing the doorbell with a, "Good evening, Sir or Ma'am," on his lips.

The door opened and he jumped back with a short cry. Zelda grinned back at him as he recovered.

"Hey, goofball," The brunette addressed him, "I thought I saw you walk up here. Come on in."

He entered and took his shoes off before following Zelda into the kitchen.

"Wow, you look amazing!" He said, coming in and giving her a hug.

"Hey, thanks! You clean up well yourself. Wait here a moment," She instructed, flashing a smile, "Let me go get my parents, okay?"

Link nodded, his nerves on fire as Zelda spun away in a beautiful purple gown. After her departure, his eyes meandered around the room of high ceilings and glass sculptures. From the cabinetry to the counters, the kitchen itself was probably worth a fortune. He let out a low toned whistle that echoed across the resonant whitewashed walls. Yes, Zelda's parents were definitely loaded, and that could only mean that they were going to be both overbearing and unforgiving. Not wanting to touch anything, Link crept out of the kitchen and into the dining room where the table was already set with silverware and napkins fancily. He felt like he was movie. Any second now the royalty was going to come flowing down the stairs to receive him, he was sure of it.

"Ahem."

Link spun around and barely avoided shouting out again. There, standing before him in a sharp looking suit, was Zelda's father. He was a rather tall man with a face unaccustomed to looking all that stern, but tonight was a blatant exception.

"Hello, you must be Link," He said in a trembling baritone, "My name is Mr. Daphnes Hylia.

Link nodded with a "Hm,", unable to articulate a sentence beyond that utterance.

"My daughter hasn't told me very much about you, aside that you're fencing team captain," Daphnes prompted, leaving his sentence purposefully open-ended.

"Hm!" The blonde teen pulled at his collar, face flushing, "Hm!"

Daphnes lifted a brown eyebrow.

"Honey?" He shouted to the hallway. He placed a hand on Link's shoulder, "You're not having an allergic reaction, son, are you?"

Link began to make strangled sounds from the back of his throat. Tears began to leak from the boy's eyes, and his face continued to flush a darker shade of red with each passing moment. Daphnes leapt to his feet, "Honey! Get the Epinephrine pen!"

There was the sound of thudding footsteps overhead and Zelda came running down.

"Mom's still getting changed –" Zelda stopped at the outrageous scene in front of her.

"Breathe with me, boy!" Daphnes roared, kneeling beside a purple-faced Link, "From you diaphragm! I know Gerudo Yogi breathing techniques. You're going to be alright! That's right, in-out-in-out…"

Link!" Zelda knelt beside her boyfriend and pressed her palms to his face, "What's happening to you?"

"Hm-hm-hm! HM!" Link squealed from the back of his throat, shaking with tears streaming down his cheeks.

Zelda pressed a hand to the back of her head where her hair was braided in disbelief. What was going on? What a disaster!

In removing her hand, she caught sight of a wisp of dark magic leaving her fingers. She brought her hand to her face and sniffed. A silencing charm? The brunette's eyes widened in horror, which quickly morphed to anger as she drew herself upright, figuring the mechanics of a counterspell in her mind.

"I have it!" Zelda's mother came rushing down the stairs with an elongated box in her hand, "I have the Epipen."

"No, wait!" Zelda blocked her mother with her arm. She knelt before Link, whose eyes were sealed shut with embarrassment, and waved her hand, undoing the spell, "Link? Say something. Are you alright?"

Link's eyes slowly opened, "Can I go home now?" He whispered, timidly.

Zelda's parents let out a pair of relieved sighs. At his wanting to leave, or the fact that he wasn't dying in their kitchen anymore, Zelda was unsure. Maybe both.

The brunette helped her boyfriend to his feet with a scowling expression.

The date was ruined. Her boyfriend would probably dump her for that scare. She set her jaw.

Midna!

__________

All Byrne really wanted to do was take a shower, finish a summer reading a book for school and go to bed. Fencing with Link hadn't really left him that tired, but the conversation the two had had spurred thoughts that wouldn't stop rotating inside his head, leaving him exhausted. After returning home a sweaty mess, he and Anjean went for a routine grocery run. As Anjean ran about in her usual enthusiastic manner, he had to keep running after her, putting back things she grabbed off the shelf they didn't need.

Her dementia was getting worse. She would confuse days, especially holidays and forget people's birthdays. She would sometimes forget recent events, and her childhood memory was fragmented at best. She would also lose track of the things she was doing, as seen in going to the store and finding half the ingredients for baking a cake, and half the ingredients for making a casserole. All of which Byrne put back, of course. They were there to buy ingredients for lasagna, something he had to remind her of at least twice. In the midst of reading the back of a packaging label to make sure there weren't any traces of lactose in the tomato paste can (factories these days!) Anjean said something which got to him.

"Did you see those lovely ladies over there?" She pointed with her eyes, "Byrne, why don't you say hello?"

Byrne glanced over his shoulder and watched three pretty Hylian girls chatter noisily in the middle of an aisle. He turned away and shrugged, placing two cans of the tomato paste in the cart.

"You know I worry about you sometimes. You do such a great job taking care of me, I never see you having fun," his aunt admitted affectionately, and Byrne felt a pulling at his heart,"Oh, that reminds me. Do you know if Carben will make it for dinner tonight? Should we make more food?"

Byrne shook his head, not wanting to rehash the disaster that occurred the last time they went shopping where he had to remind Anjean that Carben had died and that she attended his funeral.

__________

After returning home and making diner, he stood, washing dishes, thinking about the girl in the café.

'Why do people want me in a relationship?', he wondered, bitterly. Once finished, he took a quick shower. Hanging up the towel and retreating to his room, Byrne sat on his bed to think.

The truth was: he was bored. He had things with which to occupy himself, but really it was all a rouse since he rarely played music for anyone but himself, and he hardly knew anyone on the fencing team except for Link.His life seemed to revolve around keeping Anjean out of trouble and surviving high school. Maybe he should talk to the girl… Tiring of his circulating thoughts, he pulled his guitar out and strummed. As he did, the sudden thought of Link meeting Zelda's parents popped into his head. Reaching for his phone he texted : How'd it go?

After twenty minutes without an answer, Byrne sighed and fell back against his bed.

__________

Link awoke when his bed undulated from beneath him.

"Crap!" He yelled as his younger sister, who excitedly jumped up and down on his bed, "Aryll, get out of my room!"

"How'd your date with Zelda's parents go?" She slid off his bed and towered over him.

"Go away," He repeated, shoving her away, "NOW!"

She stuck her tongue out, "You're no fun. Then again, you're a BOY, so that shouldn't be such a surprise."

Link kicked out with his foot from underneath the sheets. Aryll danced out of the way and slammed his door shut, "Good morning to you too, grumpy pants! By the way, it's almost 10. " She screeched through the door.

"Whatever!" He called back, reaching for his charging phone on the nightstand.

He found a long text from Zelda and spent about seven minutes reading an apology letter she must have typed out last night. From the sounds of things, she really seemed worried that he was going to dump her. He sighed in relief. She seemed more worried about him and his feelings than what a fool he'd made of himself last night.

Midna, he thought, shaking his head. He responded: NP. Don't stress. I actually thought ur dad's kinda cool…Wat do u want 2 do 2 M?

If he had to be fairly honest, last night was probably one of the worst nights of his life. He had never felt so humiliated and vulnerable in front of anyone. He sort of hoped that if he ignored the fact, then maybe the event would retreat from everyone's minds. He found Byrne's text next and laughed. He called the other boy's phone. This was definitely a story that had to be told. The phone rang until voicemail picked up.

"Hey, got your text. Call me, alright?" He said before hanging up.

The blonde stretched with an audible yawn. He had a Captain's meeting with Impa at twelve, and last time she gave him the hairy eyeball for being two minutes late. That Sheikah was a Type-A, OCD psycho…

"Well," He grunted to the half-finished owl carving on his nightstand, "Time to be productive."

__________

Byrne had exactly two minutes to stop in the café before going to help Nabooru set up for the new student induction. He raced, pedaling as fast as he could down the street. He didn't even bother to lock his bike, rather, he left it lying on its side, a gear still spinning off to the side.

The glass door slid open with a chime. He was greeted by a chorus of "Welcome" by the three café girls.

He nodded and walked straight over to the window.

There she was, sitting, hunched over a black binder. She wore a thin, blue dress with utilitarian boots. Long, silvery blonde hair spilled over lightly tanned skin and around a white scarf. With one hand she balanced a steaming mug of coffee, the other traveled across the music before her, all the while her head swayed to an unheard tune. He walked up to her, feeling like electricity was jumping from beneath his skin. The girl looked up, curiously. When their eyes met, both parties dropped their jaws.  
'Oh, shit…'

A small piece of paper slipped from Byrne's lax grip.

'She's a Sheikah...'

Byrne glanced down at the item he'd dropped. She followed his gaze, face flushing in recognition of what it was.

"I-I…" Byrne stuttered.

The girl suddenly put her mug down, forcefully onto the table, and crossed her arms defensively. When Byrne opened his mouth to try to say something else, pan flute notes blasted from his pocket. He dove his hand into his sweatshirt and retrieved his phone.

"S-sorry!" He managed, before darting out of the café. He jumped onto his bike, nerves on fire, and pedaled off, feeling sick.

Upon reaching the school, he locked his bike and checked his phone.One missed call from Link.He leaned against the red brick of the building, realizing what he had left on the table of the café.

'Screw it…it's already done', he reasoned.

__________

Sheik sat, spine straightened and tried to regain her composure. Her cheeks were still flushed after that Lokomo boy went running out of the café. A few of the other customers were still staring, and she had to pretend not to notice.

She slowly moved her hand over to the slip of paper the boy had left. She picked it up, stiffly, and read it:

Byrne of the Lokomo – 3-141-5926

She folded the paper in her hand and gazed out the window in contemplation, features softening. Suddenly, her eyes brightened, and she quickly made to pack away her things.


	3. Chapter 3

Impa was waiting for him, arms crossed, hip cocked smugly. The tall yet robust Sheikah wore a purple athletic hoodie and black yoga pants, giving her the ninja-assassin vibe for which she was well known. She had taken to a spiky pixie cut for the summer again. Whether her unusual light grey hair was natural by some bizarre genetic mishap or dyed was still a hot topic of debate.

The whitewashed walls of the gymnasium were stark in the afternoon light. Link jogged out to the center of the hardwood floor where Impa had stacked papers and blank signs.

"You made it on time," she voiced with mock surprise, "An improvement."

"Yeah, yeah," Link waved the comment off with annoyance. Sure, technically the Sheikah was six months older than him, a fact she made sure he knew well, but did that really give her the right to act so damn condescending to him? "Let's get to business already."

"I went through and phoned the incoming freshmen who expressed interest in joining this year. Here's a list." She handed him a clipboard.

Link's eyes scanned the page, blue eyes widening, "Holy crap, that's a lot."

"I have also taken inventory of our equipment. We are short on uniforms. I emailed Coach Rusl and he's ordering a surplus in anticipation for the flood of student interest that the start of the school year will bring."

"Awesome," Link noted, "Really nice work, Impa. So we're here to put together posters and signs."

"That and determine our freshman integration plan."

Link puzzled, "The what?"

"The freshman integration plan," she repeated, "It's a new thing the school's implementing everywhere, especially in co-curricular activities. We have to – " she suddenly cut off, red eyes narrowing at something behind Link.

Link spun around as a tall, burly boy with a flash of flame colored hair stalked up to the center of the gymnasium, a bouquet of bold, red roses between thick, pudgy fingers.

"Groose," Impa practically growled, "What do you want?"

The boy lit a dazzling smile, "I'm here to see my favorite woman," he offered her the roses, "I bought these earlier today because they reminded me of your eyes."

Impa snatched the bouquet from the boy's hands, stalked over to the far wall and threw them violently into the garbage can.

Link let out an exclamation. Groose appeared unmoved, "I'm free all week, in case you were wondering," He said as the Sheikah sauntered back.

"No thank you," Impa responded, darkly, "Now leave. Link and I are busy."

Groose flashed her another smile before turning and jogging out. Link went over to the garbage can.

"What the hell was that about?" He called to Impa, who was already sitting and working on a poster, "And jeez, you could have given them to me. They're ruined now."

Impa looked up and regarded him, "Why? So you could give them to Zelda?"

Link joined her on the floor, grabbing a sharpie and a poster, "Well, yeah. Why not? They were perfectly good roses."

Impa let out a hmph. "You're awfully cheap you know that? Zelda could do so much better than you."

Link's ran his tongue across his teeth, "What the hell?"

She refused to acknowledge him.

__________

Nabooru wasn't your average student at the Hylian Academy. She was what most parents would call "troubled" in hushed tones, and the teachers "her own person" with expressions of dread slowly spreading across their features. As a member of the infamous Gerudo, she happened to inherit their most discernible traits: flowing red hair, rich sun kissed skin, expressive amber eyes, fluid reflexes, and lusty form. At the same time, she also happened to inherit the absolute worst habits of her long dead ancestors: kleptomania, narcissism, compulsive lying, and the nasty penchant of getting into trouble(and as a result, an even greater affinity for slipping out of it). Like a mischievous spite, she only seemed to happen upon places, never lingering. And no one really knew what she up to when she disappeared.

She greeted Byrne as he walked into the school band room. The slim Gerudo slid off a cabinet and stretched while Byrne gathered his bearings.

"So, what's with you?" She asked, slyly.

"Me? Nothing's up with me," Byrne responded, quickly.

Too quickly.

If Nabooru were in a mood, she would press him on whatever happenings were going on in his life. For amusement, maybe she would. Byrne's life was like a cycle of depression, and the gods always threw something stupid his way. He was oddly open to her. It might have had something to do with her admitting to him that she wasn't sure if she preferred girls or boys when they were in band together, but they were privy to each other's secrets and she had always been there to offer a shoulder to cry on during middle school. Not today, it would appear. Today, he was like a clam in cold water.

"I'm great, thanks for asking," Nabooru chimed.

"Hm."

"Ready for this exciting shit we've got to do?"

"Yeah, let's begin setting up," Byrne cleared his throat, setting his eyes to the task at hand, "let's start with the percussion."

They spent an hour hauling musical equipment up several flights of stairs to the auditorium. By the end, both were exhausted. As they sat on the stage to rest Byrne was still stuck in some sort of fog, so Nabooru left with a wave and a "see ya later."

The fresh air was invigorating. The heat of the day beat down upon her dark brow, setting her red hair alight. She stopped by a pharmacy, waving at the store clerk with a wide smile, lulling the bored looking idiot into a false sense of security.

She snatched key chains from racks, those chemical-ly tasting candies from depressed looking shelves, coupons for laundry detergent, stashing the bounty in pockets and spaces unseen. It was like she couldn't help her hands. If she had the patience to explain it to someone, then maybe it would be like spilling a box of crayons all over the desk of someone with severe OCD. It simply felt more wrong not to take things than to leave them be. She grabbed a pack of tampons and paid for them at the front, smirking as the man averted his eyes. This one was hardly a challenge, she thought as she left. At the first chance she got, she promptly threw the feminine product into a trash can.

In strolling down the sidewalk, unwrapping one of those disgusting candies, she felt eyes watching her. Her heart began thudding uncomfortably in her chest. After several minutes of this feeling building in her gut, she finally turned and leaned nonchalantly against the windowpane of a wedding shop. Across the way, a petite blonde girl mirrored her actions against the rust colored brick of a video rental store. She wore too-tight beige pants, a blue vest over a white blouse, and a red bandana tucked neatly around her throat. The Hylian tossed a set of windswept bangs out of dark brown eyes and crossed sun-burnt arms.

The girl lowered her eyes very ostentatiously to the candy in Nabooru's hands, which the Gerudo promptly stuck into her mouth. Nabooru forced herself to chew, even as the girl cast her gaze in the direction of the pharmacy and then met her eyes once again with a raised eyebrow. Nabooru shrugged with a jack-ass smile and left, heading straight for home. Upon reaching her house, she ran straight to her room to put away her loot. As she rummaged through bins filled to the brim with last week's nonsense trinkets, she began to panic.

That was the twelfth time she caught this mysterious girl following her. It started suddenly at the beginning of summer. At first she thought it was coincidental. But then she began to notice a certain pattern. The mysterious girl would only appear during mid-to-late afternoon, always with a red bandana tied around her neck. And always it would be after a particularly successful raid.

Yes, this mysterious girl was definitely a stalker, and would probably end up getting Nabooru in a shitload of trouble if this pattern continued.

She grabbed everything: paperclipped coupons sorted by product and purpose, candies, gums, vitamin bottles, aspirin tablets, writing utensils, erasers, ink cartridges, staples, fabrics, needles, threads, folding papers, fans. She threw it all into a trash bag and ran out to the dumpster to toss it in.

Just like she did every week.

__________

"Excuse me, what?" The store clerk gaped at her, wide-eyed in disbelief.

Tetra nodded, solemnly, "She robbed you. I saw it through the window," she pointed behind her to the merchandise. She proceeded to list as many of the items she could remember off the top of her head that she could recall seeing the Gerudo snatch from the shelves.

The clerk held his head, "Oh my word. I never would have known!" He let out a moan, "My boss is going to kill me."

"Don't stress. Here, I'll pay for whatever she took. I mean it," She pulled out her wallet and began sorting through her cash.

"Oh, you really shouldn't," The clerk waved her away, taking out his own wallet and pulling out several rupees, "This was all my fault. I should have been more attentive. Thank you so much for telling me. Not many people would do that, you know."

She acknowledged him with a tilt of her head, "Well, she does this a lot. She picks new places every week…She's…a friend-of-a-friend, of sorts. I gotta look after her, right?"

"You know, it's people like that girl who belong behind bars," He gazed sternly at her, "If you want to look after her, you should report her to the police the next time this happens. Stop throwing your money away."

She crossed her arms, making ready to leave, "Trust me, I know an annoying prankster who'd belong better behind bars than her."

The clerk bid her farewell, "Well, I'll take your word for it. Thank you again. Good luck looking after your…friend-of-a-friend."

__________

Byrne burst out laughing, holding his gut with one hand, slapping the wood of the stage with the other. Link's story was prime blackmail material.

"Dude, did you end up staying?" Byrne finally managed through after-chuckles.

"Hell no," Link snapped, "That was the craziest moment of my life."

"What did Zelda have to say about it?" Byrne asked after another round of laughter.

"Zel sent me this long text this morning saying she was sorry about what happened," Link responded with a nod, "So, I think our relationship is safe…for now."

"For now," Byrne intoned, ominously.

Link swatted him. Byrne swatted back a little harder. The blonde reached for Byrne's ponytail and the larger boy scooted away.

"Oh, no you don't!" Byrne threw his hands up, "We are not starting this again!"

Link smirked, "So…café girl?" He leaned forward, "Is she hot?"

Byrne let out a groan, pulling his face with both hands.

Link scowled, "Oh…so, not? Did something happen?"

"No…" Byrne let out a deep sigh, "It's just…complicated. Can we not talk about this? Please?"

"Hell no. We are talking about this," Link jumped up on the stage to sit next to the Lokomo, "I just shared with you the most humiliating moment of my entire life. Do you really think you can get by with not telling me about what went down between you and this girl?"

Byrne gave him a withering look, "Nothing happened."

"Uh huh." Link intoned, sarcastically, "Sure it did."

"No, seriously. Nothing literally happened," Byrne spoke with obtuse gestures, "I walked in, found out she's a Sheikah, accidentally dropped my number that I stupidly wrote on a sheet of paper, and ran out."

"Woah, woah, woah. Back up." Link made a rewind gesture with his hand, "First, what's wrong with the Sheikah? Second, you ran out? You gotta be joking me."

Byrne pulled his face again, "Look, the Lokomo and the Sheikah aren't exactly friendly towards each other. Have you ever seen me and Impa hanging out and being nice?"

Link snorted, "Byrne. Nobody. NOBODY hangs out with Impa. She's a bitch to everyone. Bad example. Continue, please."

"Look, that's really all there is too it," Byrne sighed, "She has my number now, and she probably won't call since she knows I'm a Lokomo. But you know what? That's just fine. I don't need a relationship, nor do I really want one, thank you very much."

Byrne quieted and refused to continue that line of conversation. The two boys sat and chatted idly about fencing. Before long, Byrne finally got up to leave, shuffling to the door of the auditorium rather abjectly.

Link bid him well and exited the back way where his car was parked in the lot. Byrne sauntered across the grass over to his bike.

The ride home was peaceful enough. The afternoon sun was unrelenting, but Byrne trained his focus on how the light flashed off windows and car mirrors prettily than how hot it was. He slowed down near the café, peering in through the windows for a moment, but pedaled off when he saw the empty seat by the window.

He really was silly to think that any sort of relationship, any sort of happiness, would come out of this lame scheme he thought up all because his friend seemed happy with his new girlfriend and relationship drama...

Drama. There was something he needed more in his life not. Between the death of his parents and having to take care of his aging aunt, a bit of teen normalacy was something he wished he could have. Speaking of his aunt, he needed to hurry home to make sure Anjean was alright.

By the time the Lokomo went to bed, it was rather late by his standards. The clock read eleven thirty, which certainly wasn't horrible, but considering he had practice the next day at seven thirty, he would have preferred going to bed earlier. He closed the windows to the house, silencing the cricket nightsong, and double checked to the doors to make sure they were all locked. Just as he was stumbling into his bedroom, pan flute notes sang from his nightstand. Byrne snatched his phone and brought it up to his ear.

"Hello?"He said, groggily.

"Um…Hello? Is this…Byrne? Did I get that name right?" A very timid, very feminine voice asked.

Byrne felt his heart soar into his throat, "Yes, speaking. Who is this?"

"Hi," the voice responded, shakily. She took a breath over the line, "My name is Sheik. I'm the…girl from the café."


	4. Chapter 4

Impa hardly suppressed the groan that escaped her lips.

Those idiotic boys.

Earlier that morning, Coach Rusl called and told her that practice was cancelled. As team captain, it was her job to make sure that everyone got the memo. She played phone tag, contacted everyone on the team and delivered the news. Apparently, she had overestimated stupidity once again.

Link and Byrne stood, leaning against the bike rack, having something of a conversation. If one could call Link's cheering Byrne on as the Lokomo shoveled ice cream into this mouth. She watched them with an unmasked look of bewilderment on her face.

As she coasted along the sidewalk on her bike, the thought of not even bothering to tell them crossed her mind. She had emailed them, texted them, even called their phones. And of course they never responded or picked up. Yes, perhaps leaving them to sweat outside for a couple of hours would teach them a lesson. After all, she couldn't be responsible for them. It was hard to believe they were almost adults, what with all of the hand holding they apparently needed to survive life.

As she debated this thought, lightly applying pressure on the brakes in contemplation, destiny decided to intervene. The stupid Lokomo boy turned from his conversation with Link and caught her eye. As a result, Byrne choked on his ice cream. It was not surprising, considering the outrageously large bites he had been taking. His form heaved, Link rushed forward to pound a fist on his back, and a large globule of half-saliva,half-green-malt plopped out of his mouth and onto the hot sidewalk.

Sometimes, she wondered if she was even part of the same species as the two, multi-celled somethings in front of her.

"Nice!" Link clapped Byrne on the shoulder as the other boy wiped his mouth.

Impa put her foot down, stopping herself from running over the ice cream on the ground. She eyed it for a moment longer before turning her attention to the two boys.

"Practice is canceled, " She reported in a clipped tone.

"Wha-?"

"Oh..that's what the email alert was about."

"What email alert?"

Impa's eyes nearly rolled out of her skull.

"You've got a smartphone, Link. Use it," Byrne scratched his neck, embarrassed, "Uh…thanks…Impa.

"Yeah." She responded, turning the bike around, "Well, goodbye."

"Wait…"

Impa turned over her shoulder, a light grey eyebrow raised in suspicion.

"What, Byrne?"

"I…"Byrne struggled to find words for a moment, like he'd suddenly lost the ability to speak the English language. "I think you've got a…" He made an ambiguous gesture.

Impa looked down and flexed her hands. Groose had dropped by her house that morning to give her a gift. There was a rose petal on her grey hoodie. One she viciously knocked off her shoulder with a snarl. Just the thought of how Groose had known where she lived gave her chills. Really, how dare that mongrel continue to pursue her? Perhaps she should tell him the truth; that she was seeing someone. A very special someone. A man who she had to keep secret, or else risk bringing shame down onto her family... Then again, she shouldn't even have to tell him anything, let alone have any sort of interaction with the boy. She had made herself clear: she wasn't interested.

Impa made to leave, but was interrupted once again.

"Wait, Impa…"

"What now, Byrne?" She snapped.

"…nothing…nevermind," Byrne shook his head, abashed, "Just..have a nice day."

She turned and left.

Now that that incredibly awkward situation was over and done with, she could head to the library to get some work done. She still had two of seven papers to write before school started. It wasn't that she had been procrastinating, but rather, life had gift-wrapped the perfect screw ball to throw her off kilter.

Sometimes life does that. Life has a sense of humor. Said sense of humor often comes at the expense of these toiling little creatures called humans. But humans are so inconsequential anyways, so what's the harm?

Well, Impa could find many flaws in that sort of logic, the first being that she doesn't believe in personifying life. One thing she can't find fault in is the fact that everyone is a victim of something in some way, shape or form. Why her cousin had to be disowned and unceremoniously kicked out of her house was beyond her. Why said cousin needed to come live with her, share her room, and consume her time was something only the gods knew.

She pedaled off, not giving such thoughts more time than they deserved.

\----------

Upon the departure of Crazy-Bitch-Numero-Uno, Link and Byrne continued to converse.

"So, you're sure you don't want to date her?" Link didn't need to clarify who he was talking about.

"…I dunno," Byrne finally admitted with a shrug.

"What's this? A shift in heart?"

"What are you even talking about?"

Link lifted three fingers, "This is the number of times you've told me you absolutely, positively, have no interest in seeing this girl. Within the past hour, I might add."

"Then why the hell are you still asking me about it?" Byrne crossed his arms and laughed uncomfortably, "Yeah, well…I mean she called me last night."

"Wait? What? Why am I only hearing this now? You should have texted me!"

"Sorry…"

"So? What did she say?"

"Not much. She wanted to make sure I was alright, I guess. I think I spooked her when I ran out of the café."

"I still can't believe you did that," The blonde commented.

"Yeah, well there isn't much I can do about that now. I dunno…I should just forget about the whole thing."

"Byrne!" Link screamed to the heavens, "You are such an idiot! Oh, my gods!"

Byrne scowled, darkly, "Wow. Okay. My best friend just turned into a girl. What is your problem?"

"Says the guy who was PMSing all day yesterday," Link rebounded, "You. You are my problem, Byrne. And I mean that in the kindest way possible."

"Uh…thanks," Byrne shook off the oxymoronic comment.

"Ok, Mr. Mopey. You were totally upset yesterday. And she called you! She reached out to you. She's interested! Better get on that now, or you'll miss your chance," Link punched Byrne's shoulder lightly, "I'm just trying to look out for you, man. Alright, maybe dating isn't the way to go about this, but would you at least try? I mean, don't you want to be happy?

"Listen," Byrne heaved a sigh, "I appreciate you caring about me and all. I really, really do. The thing is… I guess I really just don't want to rush into this. I'm…"

"Scared?"

"I was going to say 'undecided'."

"Is it the whole Sheikah-Lokomo thingy?"

"Yeah, I guess it's part of it…there are a lot of factors."

Maybe a little scared… He thought.

Byrne had never actually been in a relationship before. The thought was quite daunting.

Alright, maybe a lot.

"It's alright to be scared. I was terrified when I asked Zelda. It took me forever to figure out how to open up, and I would never regret it."

Byrne considered Link's words carefully. Now that he thought about it, he could remember the blonde's frantic mannerisms and abruptness around the time he had asked Zelda on their first date. For some reason he never connected the two. In this new light, he felt his heart flutter momentarily in hope, but he quickly squashed the feeling.

"Right…I dunno," He responded.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I don't know!"

"Okay, okay. I'll drop the subject."

"…Thank you."

"Yeah, sure."

"I really …thanks."  
\----------

When Link returned home, he went straight to his room and tossed his athletic bag in the corner. His room was a box, green – his favorite color, with a wide window overlooking the grassy backyard. As the nest of a teenage boy, it was the very definition of a disaster, save for the one corner of the room holding videogame consoles and a laptop computer. That was just sacrosanct.

The large broad leaves of a tree Link used to use to escape his room when he was younger, lighter, less likely to break young branches, brushed the pane as a breeze swept by. Link opened the window to let the air circulate, agitating the hundreds of wood shavings littering the floor.

He had opted not to clean the floor quite yet, even though already had been told to do so. Link's mother had dropped by earlier. Upon poking her head in, she quickly found her son and handed him the mini vacuum cleaner, claiming she'd nearly swooned having walked into the result of "a woodchuck mowed down by a tornado". So the vacuum cleaner remained, sitting, neglected, on Link's bed, leaning haphazardly to the side, ready to tip over at any second.

He picked up the owl carving on his nightstand and glared at it critically. He could see all of the miniscule mistakes he'd made in the wood, the slight asymmetry, a stray mark. It made him seethe with anger, towards himself mostly. They were all his mistakes.

"Is that for Zelda?"

Link gave a start and flicked his eyes to the door. His pigtailed younger sister stood in the doorway, hands on hips. She wore blue, her favorite color, in the form of a long dress that reached her ankles. She stood with a presence, as if to say: look at me! I'm in your room! So what are you going to do about it?

"Yes. And it's killing me..." He grumbled.

It really felt like too. He'd spent the past two days whittling away, trying to make something nice for Zelda's birthday. The usual flowers, card, and expensive bracelet or necklace had crossed his mind, but he felt that anything he could get her would pale in comparison to what her other friends and parents could get her. He felt badly at first before a crazy idea popped into his head.

Not only were owls a symbol of wisdom, but they were also very cute. Although he would have preferred taking on a more adventurous project such as a dragon, he wasn't sure if Zelda would appreciate something quite so fierce.

Then again, what was a carving compared to bracelets, roses, and cards? It was bizarre for a gift.

"Oh, good. It's nice to see you in pain for once. You know, you used to sit on me when I was four. I still remember your stinky butt. I wonder if I should tell Zelda."

Link pointed, "Get outta my room, Aryll. N-O-W."

She remained standing in the doorway, half to see if he would get angry and blow a gasket. Half to see if he wouldn't. When he didn't say anything, she ventured further into his room and sat on his bed to keep the vacuum cleaner company.

"If it means anything, I think it's pretty cool. It's a little weird, but still cool. I mean, at least you're killing yourself to do something nice for her. I don't think Zelda gets many handmade presents," She stated.

Link's heart lightened for a moment. Then perhaps this wasn't such a bad idea. He ran his fingers over the wood again in a vain attempt to ease out the unwanted marks, and his worries.

"She'll be getting super elegant stuff. It'll be nice to have something to break that norm."

Link bit his lip before responding, "How would you know?"

"You only talk about her all the freaking time. I got that she was rich the two-hundred-and-seventieth time you mentioned it."

Link ran a hand through his hair, "Yeah. I know."

"Keep going with it," She finally lit from the bed and nudged him with her foot, "And your room needs cleaning."

"Whatever."

She turned and walked through his doorway, pausing.

"I'm going to go watch TV. I 'practiced' my violin, riiiight?" She grinned at him deviously.

"Aryll!"

\----------

"What are you doing here?"

Nabooru was pissed.

They were standing out on a smooth sidewalk beneath a glowing lamppost across the street from one of the 24 hour stores Nabooru had robbed earlier last week. She'd kept herself away from the stores all day. Now that it was almost ten at night, having run into the girl with the bandana was definitely frightening. How the hell did she know when to find her? Of course, her fear usually transmuted to anger.

Tetra pocketed her hands and glanced up at the rising moon.

"Enjoying the evening, how about you?"

"I think you're full of shit."

Tetra shrugged. Nabooru fumed.

"I think you've judged my character prematurely. Would you like to take a walk?"

Nabooru found herself somewhat caught off guard. She wasn't used to people disregarding her challenges. Her amber eyes narrowed in suspicion as her thoughts ran madly. What was she to do? It wouldn't be wise to go off with her stalker.

"How about you walk off a cliff instead," The Gerudo retorted, "and leave me alone. You don't know me. I don't care to know you."

"I wish you would hear me out." Tetra insisted with an earnest expression.

Nabooru began to walk off, "Stay the fuck away from me."

"Wait!"

Nabooru, against her better judgement, did wait. She turned and slid her back against the cement of an apartment building as the other girl briskly caught up. The fact remained that this girl knew about her kleptomania, and it was all in this stranger's power to get her sent to a juvenile detention center, or possibly worse considering she was almost an adult. Nabooru was stuck, and for now she hadn't figured any plans of getting herself unstuck. But she would. Pronto.

"Here," The girl pressed a slip of paper into Nabooru's hand, and she felt a shiver run down her spine at her touch. She caught a waft of the blonde's scent and it sent her head spinning.

The Gerudo glanced down at the sheet of paper in her hands.

Hi. My name is Tetra.

271-828-18284

If you're interested

Nabooru's thoughts came to a halt. Her mind, which had been reeling with half baked ideas on how to slip out of this mess, suddenly seemed to completely spazz out and was in need of a reboot. She stared dumbfounded at the sheet of paper for possibly a good four or five minutes before closing her jaw, swallowing, and glancing up.

The girl, Tetra, was gone.

Nabooru replayed the last interaction in her head at least a dozen times before very slowly pocketing the sheet of paper and turning to head home. She walked the lighted streets in a daze. She soon realized that she had not only been disarmed by the blonde, but also taken completely by surprise.

That was quite an accomplishment.

In the security of her own room, Nabooru took out the sheet of paper again and placed it on her nightstand to scrutinize. The wood of the desk remained uncluttered as she had just taken out her loot to the dumpster yesterday, so the paper was all that lay on it. She tapped her fingers in absent anxiety.

"What the hell was that?"


	5. Chapter 5

"Where are you?"

"Huh?"

Byrne removed his mask and shook the sweat from his eyes as Alphonzo cocked his hip. The Lokomo was lightly panting from his workout and stared up, confused.

"What are you talking about?"

Alphonzo smirked amused that Byrne would consider taking his question in the literal sense when it was plain that the boy was right in front of him. Alphonzo was a man of muscle with dark eyes. He favored a bright red bandana to cover his premature baldness at age forty. His family was one of swordsmen from way back into the Era of Heroes, and he was quite proud of the fact. His family had befriended the Lokomo several generations ago, and so here they were now. As a fencing instructor, Alphonzo had developed a manner of speaking using vague concepts to convey a meaning. If he wanted a student to use faster footwork, he would say "Happy feet", or if the student wasn't taking advantage of scoring opportunities, he would say "starbursts". The fact that Byrne had taken him literally was testament to the boy's absent-mindedness.

"Your mind, kid." Alphonzo waved a hand in front of Byrne's face, "Where are you?"

"I dunno…"Byrne admitted, undoing his pontytail.

"Outer space?"

"I guess…"

Alphonzo crossed burly arms, trying to make eye contact with the evasive boy.

"Alright," He finally grunted, turning away to put away his foil, "You didn't live up to my Model Student today. Next week will be better."

The model student. Byrne couldn't be sure if Alphonzo was referring to a real person or just a concept dangled in front of students to make them work harder. Byrne had once asked him about him some time ago, if the model student was an actual person. The response was, "of course he exists!" and Byrne was satisfied for awhile until he thought about it some more and realized that he still didn't really know the answer to the question.

"Sorry," He mumbled.

"Don't be!" Came the reply, "Just stay present next time."

"Gotchya," Byrne responded, packing his things and exiting the training floor.

Alphonzo danced around his desk near the entrance to the school to intercept Byrne before the Lokomo could make an escape.

"Hold up. How's Anjean?"

Byrne sniffed, "Anjean's fine."

"And you're worried about her."

"Yeah, a bit. She's getting worse…She forgot about Carben's funeral again the other day at the grocery store. It makes me a little nervous thinking about how she'll be when I'm at school during the day this year…and I'm not sure how she'll cope being alone in the house when I'm not alone, you know?"

So that was it; Alphonzo was wondering what had been going through Byrne's head.

"How much thought have you been putting into your future, Byrne?"

A shrug, "I dunno."

"Have you been looking at colleges and the like?"

"Yeah, there's a school in Kakariko that seems decent. I went for a visit earlier this summer.

Alphonzo let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Well, that's a good start!"

Another shrug. Alphonzo crossed his arms, waiting for a response that didn't come.

"I'd say if you keep working at it –"

"I'm not going to get the scholarship," Byrne blurted, turning his head away, "There's honestly no possible way."

Alphonzo cringed on the inside, but kept his features calm and sincere.

"You don't know that. I'll tell you – I just met with Rusl the other day at the bar down the way," He pointed behind him towards a joint where most of the fencing coaches went to watch the Sunday night football game( the third most watched sport in Hyrule after fencing and soccer), "He said you're a fantastic candidate. You have at least a 33% chance of being picked for it."

Byrne gave him a withering look, and Alphonzo wondered if the boy could see right through him and his white lies.

Rusl and Alphonzo were old college buddies from Castletown University. Both were recruited for the national team and competed for twelve years each before retiring and going their own ways. Rusl became Castletown's Hylian Academy Head Coach, and Alphonzo founded his own school which primarily taught youth classes. Because of the overlapping of students, they had no choice but to keep in touch.

Lately they had been discussing candidates for the national fencing scholarship, which would be awarded to whichever competitor performed the best before a panel of judges over the course of a three day tournament. It was a big event for a big reward, as most of the past recipients of the scholarship were practically paid to go to college, the figures were so large.

When Alphonzo had told Rusl that he was training Byrne, Rusl shrugged with an, "okay…". The unsaid, "I think you're wasting your time" was well understood, but unappreciated. If anything, it fed the fervor to prove Rusl wrong and bring Byrne to the top. The other two candidates, Impa and Link, were certainly tough competition, but Alphonzo felt there was a chance Byrne could outperform them if he worked hard enough for it.

Alphonzo knew next to nothing about Impa, just that she was a Sheikah (a tribe of people who were predisposed for being outrageously intense. Alphonzo couldn't decide if he loved them or hated them for it) and that she was very skilled based on what he could gather from the few tapes Rusl had shown him for review. She had an even mix of speed, strength, and flexibility, probably compounded from whatever other martial arts experience she had. Although her focus was otherworldly, there was something off about her precision. Beneath each of her moves there seemed to be some brimming ire that would occasionally knock her off balance. If Alphonzo were to train her, he would probably take her out to lunch to ask her about how she was doing and try to figure a way to work through all that anger, since it probably wasn't healthy, for one, and it also had an effect on her martial skill.

However Alphonzo wasn't interested in helping Impa in the slightest, and instead had drilled Byrne to increase the complexity of his footwork to irritate the hell out of his opponent. If by chance he did have to face Impa (who definitely outskilled Byrne) they could at least capitalize on her weaknesses to give the Lokomo a fighting chance.

Link on the other hand was a student Alphonzo knew very well, having taught the blond Hylian for almost seven years. In Alphonzo's estimate, the two boys were almost evenly matched in everything ranging from reflexes to stancework and focus. Both boys knew all the same material, and were more than competent with it. The edge that Link had over Byrne, which would probably make the Hylian victorious in the long run, was passion.

Link's passion for fencing was unmatched. Link didn't just do fencing; he studied it as if it were the key to the meaning of life. He would learn a move, spend hours reviewing it over and over again, come back to ask about the mechanics and application, what he should be focusing on, how he should think, rinse and repeat…

Link primarily trained under Rusl now. Alphonzo could understand that Link's schedule didn't work with his once the boy started high school, and Rusl had seen so much potential in the little prodigy, the coach had offered free lessons. It was the deal of the century; Alphonzo would have been disappointed in Link if he hadn't taken the offer. Still, Alphonzo was a little sore after losing such a great student.

…And then there was Byrne. Byrne was a whole different story. Alhponzo wasn't really sure why Byrne was into fencing. If he had to guess, it was Anjean's idea to get him involved and out of the house.

Alphonzo had known Byrne from when the Lokomo was fairl young – about ten or so. That was when Byrne was no more than the "chubby cheerful guy with the guitar". The Lokomo sang and danced at parties, played duets with Anjean for special events on his little guitar, made jokes and laughed often with an adorable twinkle in his eye. Most would call him the life of the party.

Fast forward two years and a car accident later, and Byrne was a totally different person. After his parent's funeral, he fell into an alarming state of depression that Anjean was ill equipped to handle. Alphonzo himself had to intervene as a family friend and spent weeks at a time living at their house talking with Byrne, getting him to see a counselor, and took care of the boy while he recovered. Fencing and being athletic seemed to make him…happier, although what Alphonzo still found most appalling was Byrne's smile.

Simply, the boy never looked happy. His smile was so dead it actually seemed to suck the happiness right out of the room he was in( quite the contrast to being the life of the party). And that old twinkle in his eye? Snuffed out cold.

"Yeah, well…If Anjean's going to need me around all the time, I might as well not waste our time trying."

Alphonzo facepalmed and sighed.

"Byrne, sit down with me, please."

Alphonzo coud understand that Byrne was conflicted, but sometimes the things that would come out of the boy's mouth were ridiculous!

As Byrne sat down in a visitor's chair, Alphonzo offered him some water and sat down facing him.

"How long has Anjean been like this?"

"I dunno…maybe two years or so. She's worse now."

"Have you been making sure she's taking her medications?"

Byrne let out a barking laugh, "Anjean doesn't believe in taking medication."

"Oh…I see…"

"She needs someone with her," Byrne pressed, "Someone she trusts and who knows what she wants and what her needs are. I care more about Anjean than I do about going to college."

Alphonzo closed his eyes, figuring a way to say what needed to be said without coming across as being a complete jackass.

"…Based on what you're telling me, I think you're aware of Anjean's prognosis, and you know she's only going to get worse from here on out," He finally stated, as delicately as he was able.

Byrne nodded, his countenance falling in an almost tangible way that made Alphonzo feel like the biggest jerk on the planet. He took a deep breath before continuing.

"I don't want you making decisions that are only going to limit your future. Going to college is your surest way to success, or at least it is in this society, and skipping out on your chance to go now will limit you, Byrne. That's fact. And Anjean, whether you leave or stay, will only continue getting worse. There isn't much you really can do right now for her, besides, maybe, looking into assisted living or nursing care options."

Byrne's head shot up, "But-!"

Alphonzo put his hand up and looked at Byrne severaly, "You need to hear this, Byrne. I think there's some part of you that's holding on to the idea that you can somehow save Anjean and bring her back to being the same person she was two years ago. And I know you know that's not possible."

Alphonzo watched Byrne carefully as the boy nodded towards the floor.

"If you stay behind, you'll have to watch her get worse until you have no choice but to put her into a home, and that's not something I want you or anyone on this planet to have to endure."

Byrne sniffed wetly. Alphonzo put a hand on his houlder, a rather horrible feeling spreading through the teacher's gut. He knew Byrne always tried keeping a tough front up before everyone, and watching him struggle was heartbreaking.

"That's why I really want you to do your best to get this scholarship," Alphonzo continued, "I want you to have options. This is probably your only chance to pursue a higher education."

"…I know…" Byrne shook his head, "But I really just can't…."

"You can, Byrne. You have to believe in yourself, your abilities and experience. Once you get the scholarship, then you make your decisions, not before," Alphonzo squeezed Byrne's shoulder, "Starbursts, Byrne. If you've only have once chance to shine, take that chance."

Byrne laughed, "I think my chance to shine passed a long time ago, Alphonzo."

Whatever those words meant, Alphonzo had a feeling it had some relevance to the time before his parents had died. He knew that was dangerous territory for Byrne's mind to dwell.

"Nah, you're wrong," Alphonzo quickly countered, "You're still stuck somewhere in the past, Byrne. Gotta stay present, live in the moment! Life's always moving forwards and you have to keep up. You have to stay focused on your goals to see the opportunities right in front of you, right? Right?"

Byrne nodded, "…Right."

Alphonzo grinned, "Otherwise what'll you do? You might be stuck as a guitarist playing on the street for the rest of your life!"

Suddenly, Byrne seemed to perk up, and his eyes snapped into focus.

Alphonzo's grin faded and his jaw dropped.

"Wait…you weren't seriously considering that option, were you?"

Alphonzo felt something like despair crawl into his gut. He probably sould have stopped while he was ahead.

"Huh?" Byrne scratched his head, "No! Of course not!"

Alphonzo wasn't entirely convinced, "…alright…?"

"No!" Byrne chuckled, "No, that's not it at all. There's this girl, and I've been having issues lately trying to figure out…stuff."

"…okay…"

"Thanks Alphonzo, I actually have to get going!"

"…uh..?"

Byrne stood and wrapped his teacher into a bear hug, "Thanks for the chat, it means a lot to me!"

"Uh…yeah, anytime…" Alphonzo returned the hug and watched, somewhat disconnected from reality, as Byrne practically skipped towards the door, bag in hand.

Finally recovering, Alphonzo cleared his throat, "Do take to heart what I told you today, okay? Don't give up on the scholarship,Byrne."

"Yeah! Okay!"

"…what are you so anxious about?"

Byrne spun, one hand one the door, "Well, I gotta suck up my pride and finally ask Impa that one question."

Before Alphonzo could ask "what question?" Byrne was already out of the door and dashing away along the sidewalk towards the bike rack.

Alphonzo let out a bellowing laugh at his own foolishness. It wasn't Anjean that had been distracting Byrne all day, but rather this girl.

Things certainly were not as they first appeared!

For a moment, Alphonzo had to wonder if it was Impa who Byrne was interested in, although after three seconds of consideration, he came to the reasonable conclusion that it was highly unlikely. As he stood, stroking his chin in thought, he considered telling Byrne the next time they saw each other that the boy should hold off until after the tournament to get involved with anyone. By the looks of things, Byrne was interested in someone related to the Sheikah, which was messy business for a Lokomo to be in and would probably lead to unnecessary stress and drama.

Then again, Alphonzo tilted his head as Byrne went zooming by on his bike, a little drama could prove to be an excellent distraction for Impa, and maybe a factor for her ire, which could improve Byrne's chances in the tournament.

But most importantly, beyond all of that, Alphonzo was taken by surprise in seeing a spark light up in Byrne's eyes. For the first time in a very long time, Alphonzo saw hope burning in the Lokomo's eyes, and that was not something he was going to take from the boy.


	6. Chapter 6

Byrne rummaged through his athletic bag while Coach Rusl began wrapping up practice. He snatched the slightly crinkled paperwork up and dashed to the middle of the gymnasium sat, stretching and chatting all in their bright blue athletic uniforms. He passed Link, who was in the middle of signing 'I love you' to Zelda standing near the gym door in a bright summer dress, nudged him with his foot, eliciting a scowl from the blond, and offered the paperwork to Rusl.

"Here are the scholarship contracts," The Lokomo shoved the papers into Rusl's hands, "Sorry they're in a little late."

Rusl took the papers and briefly glanced them over to make sure they were complete, "Good, Byrne. Thank you. I'll get this taken care of."

"Thanks!"

Instead of gravitating to Link's side like usual, Byrne took a steadying breath and sat down next to Impa. Not too close, mind you, but it was close enough to make Impa turn her head and glare at him. Byrne settled into a stretch and caught Link's eye across the way, who mouthed, "What the hell are you doing?", to which he mouthed back, "Later!" and continued stretching, all the while becoming more and more aware of the bristling Sheikah beside him.

"So…"

"What, Byrne?" She practically snapped.

"I was hoping I could ask you a question," He stated, truthfully.

She seemed irritated, but that was no surprise. As expected, she tried to dismiss him.

"Shouldn't you be somewhere? The gods know you gave Coach a hassle about being dismissed for some event."

"Right. No, not today. Nabooru cancelled on me. I don't think she's feeling well."

"Hm."

"Um…"

She faced forward, away from him while sitting in a perfect butterfly stretch with impeccable posture. She watched him from out of the corner of her eye, nonetheless.

"Well?" She finally prompted, "what do you want?"

"Okay, so it's sort of an odd question…"

She made an impatient gesture.

"Are there…any…um…Sheikah…"

"You might as well Google it at this rate," She interrupted, spreading into a full front splits. Byrne took a moment to be intimidated.

"Courting rituals!" He sputtered, "Do they exist, or can you just ask a Sheikah out?"

She shipped her head around, "What?"

The Lokomo rubbed the back of his neck, nervously, "I mean… I want to know if there's a correct or incorrect way of asking a Sheikah out."

Byrne watched, with the disjointed fascination one feels in these sorts of awkward situations, as Impa's sharp features did a number of acrobatics before setting into a scowl. Byrne regretted having even sat down as she pulled her long legs in and sat cross legged.

"Again, what?"

He heaved an abject sigh, "Nevermind!"

"What the hell are you smoking?"

Looking up, Byrne caught Link's eye, and the deer-caught-in-headlights look the blond was giving him told him that the last comment was not quite private. Coach Rusl, who had been showing an underclassman a move, crossed his arms and looked nearly mortified.

"Eh-heh! Good one, Impa!" Byrne patted the Sheikah's back and felt her tense beneath his hand like a rock.

"Never came across as the joking kind, Impa," Rusl commented, grimly.

Impa ground her teeth, "A manner of speech, sir." She cast her gaze around at her audience, "Everything is fine."

The room of prying eyebrows and stretched ears would beg to differ. Byrne even caught sight of Zelda leaning forwards, a bemused smirk set upon her features. He let out a low chuckle for lack of anything better to do.

"Sorry," He muttered.

She merely glared at him.

"Um…"

"Don't ever touch me again."

"Never again!" he put his hands up.

When she refused to stop trying to kill him with the lasers in her eyes, it suddenly dawned on him that there was something not quite right(aside from a Lokomo talking to a Sheikah).

"So…"He cleared his throat, "Are there any?"

"Why do you want to know?" She deadpanned.

"Curiosity. There are some pretty crazy Lokomo ones."

"….Did Groose put you up to this?"

"Who's Groose?"

Her eyes narrowed.

"You mean the Loftwing guy? No!"

Suddenly, something like terror widened the Sheikah's eyes. She glanced between Byrne and Link several times before settling her gaze somewhere in space above their heads.

"Since you apparently need to know…" She began, "I suppose you would generally start by asking her guardian's permission."

"Legal guardian?" Although Byrne wasn't expecting her to come around so soon, he realized he had her in a strange mood.

She shrugged, cautiously, "Usually, yes. If the parents are unreachable you can talk to her older siblings."

"Oh…"

Scarlet eyes met his with an unnerving intensity, "Honestly, Byrne. Why the interest?" Her face darkened, "Do you know something?"

Byrne felt a chill pass through him. To what she was referring, Byrne hadn't the slightest idea. He quickly shook his head.

"Is that the truth?"

"Gah! I have no clue what just happened! Are we still talking about what I was talking about, or did you move on?"

Impa made a hmmm sound.

"Okay, I can tell there's something going on you don't want to talk about. I just wanted to ask that question is all…I swear!"

"…alright," She said, finally breaking her gaze.

As she leaned back into a lower back stretch, Byrne though he saw something like relief pass behind her eyes. A spike of curiosity almost had him asking her what was going on, but then logic and reasoning told him that if he wanted to live to see tomorrow, he'd best stay quiet.

"Uh…"

"What now, Byrne?"

"Do you mind if I ask another question?"

She simply looked at him from whatever extremely painful looking yoga pose she was in.

"Do you happen to know a girl named Sheik?"

"Who?"

"Sheik. I think she lives in Castletown."

Impa's brow began to furrow.

"…Sheik…?"

She sat back down and glanced over her shoulder to where Zelda was leaning against the wall, checking her smartphone.

"Sheik." She murmured, turning her attention back to Byrne, "No, I've never met a Sheikah by that name.

The Sheikah's face melted into a pseudo-serenity of absolute expressionlessness.

He did a double take, "Huh?"

"And besides," She continued, "Sheik is a boy's name."

"That…wha?"

Impa delivered a pointed look, "Someone isn't being honest with you. Now excuse me, I have something I need to do."

The Sheikah sprang to her feet and marched toward the door where Zelda was. Before Byrne could even begin questioning the nonsense he just heard, Link plopped himself down beside him.

"Spill," The blonde demanded, "'What the hell are you smoking?'? Gods, Byrne!"

The Lokomo laughed in disbelief, "Think she's trying to get me disqualified from the scholarship?"

"Probably! I wouldn't put it past her. Seriously, if you two don't get along, stay away from each other."

"Ugh…Stop telling me what to do."

"You idiot."

"I just wanted to ask her a question."

"You know…the two of us could probably take her."

They exchanged devious glances.

"Rope, ductape, chloroform," Link grinned, Anything else?"

"Ski masks," Byrne supplied, "definitely ski masks. And gloves too. Maybe an armored tank, now that I think about it."

"Good, good…where the hell are we going to get an armored tank?"

"Hm…good question. I'll get Nabooru to steal one for us."

"Perfect! I'll meet you behind her house tonight at midnight."

Byrne pulled his face with a grin, "…and she'll still totally kick our asses."

"Ugh! The crazy bitch!"

"Realistically, you know it's tr…"Byrne glanced towards the door with a scowl, "Hey. Crazy-bitch looks like she's about to make your girlfriend cry."

Link's head shot up.

"What?!"

From a distance it was a little difficult to tell just what was happening. Impa had her hands on her hips and was definitely saying something stern to Zelda. The brunette against the wall, however, had a look of devastation upon her face, as if Impa had just told her that her dog had been run over by a garbage truck.

Link wasted not a second in planting himself between the Sheikah and his girlfriend, barging right through Impa's words.

"-you don't understand the severity of what's been done! If anyone were to find out about this, Zelda –"

"Hey, back off!"

To both Link and Zelda's surprise, Impa bit her tongue and held it while the blond put a strong arm around his girlfriend's shoulders.

"You know, if you've got something to say to Zel, you can say it to the both of us.

The Sheikah rolled her eyes with a huff.

"Link," Zelda began, "It's fine."

"No! I'm standing by my word. What do you have to say, Impa?"

The grey-haired captain shrugged her shoulders passive aggressively, "Nothing."

"That's what I thought," Link smirked.

The look of disgust on Impa's face could have stopped a train. It took everything in Link's being not to break down and crack up at the sight until after the Sheikah had taken three steps in the opposite direction. Then he let it loose.

Slightly unnerved, Zelda squeezed his side, "Are you alright?"

"No, but I will be!" he chortled, watching the Sheikah stiffly saunter back to the middle of the gymnasium.

Impa helped Rusl conclude practice without Link, refraining from looking in the direction of the door until she absolutely had to, and that was upon her departure. Byrne noticed her pronouncedly awkward demeanor, and tried shooting Link a questioning look, but it went missed.

"Did you see her face?" Link continued chuckling.

Zelda smiled a little sadly, "Be nice, goofball."

"Hey," He pulled her close so their noses were almost touching, "No one's allowed to bully you on my watch, okay?"

She smiled, heat flooding her cheeks, "Okay…but you can't be a bully either."

"Who said I was?"

"Oh, you…"

He nuzzled her nose with his, eliciting a soft giggle.

"Link! We shouldn't be doing this here!"

"What? PDA?" He kissed her, "Too late!"

He gave her a quick squeeze before releasing her, "Let me go get my stuff and we can get the hell outta here!"

\----------

Honestly, Byrne. Why the interest?

Upon returning home, Byrne went and took a shower to clear his head. There were some things that just weren't adding up.

What had Impa gone to talk to Zelda about so suddenly?

Although he it wouldn't surprise him if Impa were capable of making seventeen-year-old girls cry, he wondered what it was in the(extremely awkward) conversation between she and himself that had reminded her of whatever it was she had to say to Zelda.

Someone isn't being honest with you

Sheik, Zelda, and Impa. How did they relate? Because they definitely did relate somehow. Byrne didn't believe Impa when she said she didn't know Sheik. Not only was it highly improbable, as the Sheikah are generally a close-knit society, that strange look that had crossed her face when she claimed she'd never met a girl named Sheik before unnerved him.

Do you know something?

The truth was, he knew nothing. And that definitely scared him. Questions were rolling in left and right. What secrets were Zelda and Impa keeping together? Who was Sheik and why did Impa feel she needed to protect her(Byrne wasn't buying the whole "Sheik is a boy's name")? Were Sheikah courting rituals still customary or not?

Was it even worth it to try for this anymore?

Byrne exited the shower, redressed and sat in his room, waiting out the afternoon. These thoughts continued to cycle through his mind, as did Impa's cryptic words.

He automatically maneuvered to get to his guitar and began absently strumming.

Maybe he was making this a bigger deal than it actually was. After all, he knew nothing. Everything was…speculation.

"Starbursts," He muttered.

It was all about staying present, not worrying about what could be and all the what-ifs. Here, in this moment, he knew he wanted to ask Sheik. Now that he thought about it, perhaps trying to find the Sheikah rituals was a delay tactic.

Speaking of crazy rituals.

Lokomo dating custom? He grinned.

Try serenading your love with the art of music!


	7. Chapter 7

The Sheikah word for guardian was an interesting one. There actually were two separate words : có-cen and hógó-sia. The first, which translated to legal guardian, usually just referred to parents. Meanwhile, the second was better translated as 'protector'.  
The latter actually came from the Era of Heroes during which Hyrule was still governed by a monarchy. The Sheikah attendant to the Royal Family was referred to as Guardian of the Royal Family; hence the etymology of the word suggested more of a protective significance.

When Impa had mentioned it to Byrne, she not only surprised herself by actually gracing the Lokomo with an answer, but with the terminology she decided to use. Although he had interpreted it to mean legal guardian, in Impa's mind, the two definitions were separate. To make that clarification, she mentioned siblings.

Impa herself was an only child. Her parents were the leaders of Shadow Clan within the Sheikah tribe. Symbolically, they were the most elite of the Sheikah, and therefore had a sort of … reputation to uphold. She never really saw her parents as parents, but rather, authority figures.

Her family was not one of goodnight kisses and baking cookies for Sunday brunch. Impa could not remember having a birthday party once. Her parents could really only be described as one thing. Tough. Their rigidness was not necessarily exclusive to just Impa's family, as most Sheikah children have similar upbringings, but perhaps amplified due to the fact that they did have a certain image to maintain as clan leaders.

It was because of this that she considered herself her own hógó-sia. Her parents had their place as her có-cen and nothing more.

When she was younger she would often question what it meant to be a family, but soon, after she'd been…beaten over the head with enough Sheikah idealism, she stopped and redirected her focus on studying.

Impa returned to her house immediately after practice that that afternoon. She strode into her room hearing gentle music coming from her cousin's computer sitting at their shared desk. For a moment she thought she would have a heart attack, promptly shoving a nearby pair of headphones into the device to mute the sound, but she then remembered that her parents were both at work and wouldn't hear it anyways.

She paused, headphones in hand. Should she? She really shouldn't…

Curiosity got the better of her, and she slipped the headphones over her ears, closing her eyes.

Lately, as senior year approached, sentiments and yearnings she hadn't experienced in years resurrected themselves in her and desired exploration. She often felt estranged from those her age who would talk about how much they were going to miss their families in college. In the sanctity of her mind, her thoughts tended to meander; prodding at the concept of the word "family" she felt she never really understood in a meaningful way.

That her younger cousin had moved in her only made her question what the definition of family was even more.

And, by extension, love.

She'd been born with grey hair. Biologically, it could be explained as a recessive allele carried down in her bloodline, though she saw it as irony. She used to tell herself it had some bearing to the fact that she tended to feel a lot older than she physically was. Ever since she was thirteen, she'd felt like a woman in her forties.

Something about this perhaps had made her more open to the idea that she could find love in someone older than her. She realized that on some level, everyone was human traversing some path before them. People tended to find themselves at certain bends and forks at different times of their lives. It was always a matter of finding that one special person at exactly the right time and place along that long and twisted path.

She'd been open to it all along, but she certainly hadn't expected to find love in a man who was a little over twice her age…

…and married.

A buzzing above her head awoke her from a trance. She ripped the headphones from her head and exited the midi program before slamming the laptop shut.

She opened the front door and put on a customary scowl.

"Groose."

"Hey, Impa!" He held out a bouquet of bright red roses to her.

"Please, no."

"Aww, come on. Don't leave me hanging."

She stared down the length of his arm to his grinning features. He'd slicked his red hair back and put on semi-formal attire, perhaps to look appropriate in the event that her parents answered the door. Still, creases in his slacks and a small stain on the sleeve of his shirt broadcasted sloppiness.

Another little thing she would wonder at is how such strange creatures as the teenage boy ever grew to maturity. She saw nothing attractive in boys her age.

"No means no, Groose."

He pouted, "At least take the roses. I went out of my way."

"I'll throw them out."

"Maybe," He said with a shrug, "Maybe not. They're fresh, and they smell nice."

He shook them a bit in front of her unenthused face. She scowled and pushed them away.

Between Groose, Byrne, and Link, she had a running mental competition of which boy she disliked the most. Right now, Groose was winning by a sizeable margin.

"I asked your parents the other day. They said they were fine with it," He said with a laugh, "It's hard to believe you're related. They were actually pretty nice to me. They even let me into the house."

Impa tried to subdue the horror that was threatening to wreck devastation over her features. Her parents did…what?

"I don't believe you."

"Here's my proof!" He reached into his pocket and retrieved a patch of cloth with the Sheikah insignia sewn onto it in bright red thread. On the backside was dark purple satin that only her father was allowed to have.

Unless said father had picked a suitor.

Her hands flexed in disbelief, the desire to throttle…something building in her fingers. There was no way in hell her father would just hand over his permission to some imbecilic child! She didn't take Groose for a thief, and stealing from her father seemed like the closest thing to impossible she could think of. Still, somehow her father's permission literally ended up in the hands of the person she disliked the most on the planet!

She personally didn't even consider her father's permission valid to begin with. He was not her hógó-sia. Though she would never challenge her father, she felt a sense of moral wrongness about the entire situation she was now in.

She no longer had a choice in the matter. Her voice had been silenced by her father's thunder.

She was now expected to see her father's choice.

"Don't know what it means, but your dad said to show it to you."

For the second time that day, she felt like she was going to have a heart attack. Groose may not understand the significance, but she certainly did, and so did her father.

"So? Are you going to take them?" He asked, holding the bouquet out for her again.

She watched her hand move and grasp the end of the bouquet. He didn't let go right away.

"What is it?" She asked, trying very hard not to snap.

"Would you consider going out with me?"

NO!

"I would consider it," She felt the words rise up out of her throat and into the air. She fought to subdue the rage building in her chest and raised the roses to her face when he let go to breathe them in.

The fragrance was unexpectedly rich. Impa mildly wondered how much Groose had paid for them.

He laughed again in that pompous way she hated about him, "That was a yes or no question."

"I know."

"So?"

"I don't have an answer for you just yet."

He pocketed his hands and gave her a gentle smile that had the power to completely freak her out. She remained frozen in the doorway with the roses, waiting for him to leave so she could slam the door and try to wipe the memory of this event from her mind.

"You may go now," She voiced, stiffly.

"I know," He said.

"Before the next coming of Her Grace would be nice."

He let out a laugh that lit up his amber eyes and brought a healthy flush to his cheeks. Impa, once again, flexed her fingers with impatience.

"An answer would also be nice…before the next coming of Her Grace," He added.

"I really don't have an answer right now."

"But you're considering it."

"I just said I would."

He continued to running his eyes up and down her form in a rather intrusive manner. She cleared her throat.

"I like your hair," He said, suddenly.

"What?" She snapped.

"I've always thought it was really pretty. Is there a reason you keep it short like that?"

She carefully touched the ends of her hair and stared at him.

"Besides making you look totally cool."

"…personal…reasons. It's really none of your concern, actually."

"I consider myself a hair expert," He puffed his chest and Impa fought not to roll her eyes.

"Hm," She crossed her arms, stifling the flowers.

"You don't have to, but you'd look beautiful with it grown out long."

Impa's eyes widened dangerously, and her head snapped up with a violent abruptness. That was it. He'd pushed, she'd let him because she felt she had to, but he'd gone too far.

"Get of my porch immediately!" She snapped, shoving him with her shoulder.

"Woah! Sorry!" He stumbled back, slightly alarmed.

"Groose!" She even hated the way the name felt rolling around in her mouth, the way it lingered in her cheeks, "Go away!"

He started at her, something like…fear? Concern? Confusion? Whatever. Playing behind his eyes.

"Go!"

He swallowed, watching her carefully, "Do take care, Impa," And, finally turning to leave, " I'll call later."

When she did slam the door, half the roses in the bouquet had already been crushed in her grip. She made a beeline for the kitchen and threw them into the trash, crushing them with a foot.


	8. Chapter 8

Link was in love with Zelda. He was, without a doubt, head-over-heels, head-in-the-clouds, completely, absolutely in love with her.

He loved the way she walked – equal parts elegant and contemplative. He absolutely loved watching her move, especially on this particular day. She had on a spectacular floral motif summer dress that gave her a glow.

He loved the way she talked – insightful, playful, at times dramatic, but only when the situation called for it. She had a hidden wicked sense of humor that only he could bring out, which pleased him to know end.

He loved her eyes, green as emeralds, which sparkled like them too. Vivacity was held in those eyes, though it was at times subdued by a calm demeanor.

But if there was one thing he loved the most about his girlfriend, it was her quirks. Like the fact that she enjoyed flossing her teeth in the morning. Or that she adamantly refused to go to a single sporting event until the end of her junior year (that's when she met Link. He reckoned it was the best decision she ever made. She hasn't affirmed this yet, then again, she hasn't denied it either). Or, her most recent one, masquerading as other people during the day – that was an interesting one.

"So, how are the disguises going?" He asked, casually tossing his popsicle stick into a nearby trashcan. He turned and took her wrapper while she turned and took a bite out of hers (another quirk – she liked biting into her frozen treats).

After departing from the school, they'd gone to get a snack at a 24 hour store. The heat was still unbearable, so they got popsicles. The clerk had scrutinized them with an unusual intensity, which surprised Link, but he didn't hesitate to turn out his pockets when asked since Zelda was with him. They paid and left without any further trouble.

"They're fine," She responded, mildly.

"And? That's it? That's all you're going to tell me?"

"There's not anything I have to say about them."

"Really? You're running around doing who knows what all day, how do I know you're not hitting on other guys?" He said, jokingly.

She gasped in false surprise, "You're right; I could be involved in so many illicit affairs."

"Not the mailman!"

He didn't exactly understand why, but for some reason, the age-old Hylian joke between girls had something to do with screwing the mailman. He had to wonder why at times, but he used the meme anyway. She caught on immediately.

"What shall we do when the post is delivered in the newly shed blood of my love?" She gasped and fell into him, breaking her character only when Link started laughing so that she could join him.

"So, they're going well," He concluded, as she finished her treat and tossed the stick away.

"Oh, they're fine," Zelda said as the two began walking down the sidewalk towards their favorite park, "It almost feels pointless sometimes – it's mostly just me walking around with someone else's face, which totally defeats the purpose of acting. Not one of my finest ideas, I'll admit."

"Wait, are you thinking about stopping?"

"Maybe. It depends on if things start getting interesting or not."

"Interesting, eh?"

"Yes, well, you never know what can happen when walking in a stranger's shoes."

Link paused and stroked his chin, blue eyes narrowed in thought, "Suppose I find you one of these days?"

Zelda shrugged, "I'll probably burst out laughing when you walk right past me." She continued with a bemused smirk, "And then you'll be stuck wondering why there's a crazy random person laughing at you."

He shook his head,"I don't know about that. Say I identify you?"

"Through the disguise?" She looked dubious.

"Through the disguise." He nodded, confidently.

"Is that a challenge?" Zelda's green eyes narrowed, playfully with a hint of suspicion.

"You know what? Why not? If I can catch you in a disguise one of these days, you owe me…something."

"Something?"

"Yeah, I'll have to think of it," Link shrugged, nonchalantly.

She just stared at him. It was a bit unnerving, until Link's eyes shot wide and he stumbled through a response.

"Not sex! …Well, I mean, if you want to have sex that'd be amazing, but we haven't really talked about any of that stuff yet, and I don't know what you're comfortable with, or your parents for that matter, and I mean, hey this cool, isn't it? So I'm not saying, not let's not have sex, I'm saying -"

She promptly leaned forwards on tip-toes and kissed him. Probably her discreet way of saying "quiet".

"Deal," She said, simply.

He broke out into a grin, cheeks flushed, "I'm gonna find you, Zel. Mark my words.

"Sure you will." She continued walking.

"So, I should look for the stranger with the mailman?"

Zelda giggled, a sudden burst of life spilling into the air, "You know, it's funny you mention that – Midna just suggested that I do something like that."

"What? The mailman?" Link voiced, incredulous(what the Hell is the mailman joke?).

"No! Well…yes, in a way , actually. She told me I should cheat on you with these disguises…and then after granting me that bit of wisdom, she put a silencing charm in my hair."

Link let out an embarrassed sigh that sunk his shoulders. He was never going to live that one down, was he? He shook away the thought of that particular fiasco.

"Right, reminds me – how're we going to return the favor?" He recovered, catching up to her as she strode ahead.

"You're not serious." She turned, a look of concern set upon her features.

"It'll just be a bit of fun," He responded, easily.

"Aside from doing something that could bodily injure her, which I do not suggest, there's literally nothing you could do to her that she hasn't done to someone else already," She made a cutting motion with her hand, "She'll see it coming from miles away."

"Shoot. This is going to take some creative ingenuity," Link grinned, "Be my partner in crime?"

"In punking Midna? I think not!"

"Pretty please? With a cherry and kisses on top?"

"You know this is an endless cycle, right? She'll get you back with twice the punch. I've seen it happen time and time again."

"You ruin my fun."

"Aww. Such is my job – keeping my goofball out of trouble," She countered.

He couldn't help but grin. Goofball was her nickname for him, and although he supposed it was a little condescending if he thought about it enough, it was her nickname for him, and that's why he loved it.

"Too late for that. Byrne and I decided we're going to take down Impa. We're waiting on Nabooru to steal us an armored tank."

She rolled her eyes, shoulders shaking as she attempted to hide her laughter.

"An armored tank?"

"I thought it was genius. Why, don't you approve of my choice of wheels?"

"Okay, I know you two are competing for that scholarship, but cut Impa some slack. She's actually pretty nice."

"Impa, nice – what? Why have I not heard of this phenomenon? When do I get to see this? Once every never?" He accidently said it with a little more force than he'd intended. He waited for her to reprimand him.

Zelda had to pause at the ferocity of his words, "…Is she really that bad to you guys?"

He shrugged, "I dunno. You tell me. She looked pretty livid today in the gymnasium. What was that about?"

It was her turn to sigh, "It was nothing, really. Impa, I'll admit, has the tendency to be a little overly intense about certain…things, but aside from that she's always been pleasant. "

"Yeah, well – I'll have to ask Byrne how the rest of his conversation with her went. Hey!" He suddenly jumped as a thought occurred to him, "Did you now that the Sheikah and the Lokomo don't get along? I just found this out, like, a week ago."

"Oh, I've known it," She responded, calmly, "I thought it was common knowledge."

"Thanks. What, you're calling me uncommonly knowledged?"

"Hm. Well, you're uncommonly charming and I'm not complaining. It's not bad to be uncommon."

"Thanks…but it's still really weird," He said, referring back in the conversation.

"Why? Because the three of you are competing against one another, or because you all fence together?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, there's that, but it's just really weird how I just never knew, you know?" He lifted an eyebrow, "And now I do, and the fact just calls attention to itself the more I watch the two of them fail to interact. And then there's the whole 'I don't even understand what's going and why' bit of it that I think is probably the leading cause of my awkwardness around Impa lately. I've never been that close to her to begin with, but now I sort of despise her…because Byrne is my friend and I naturally want to be on his side. And it's probably because I'm Byrne's friend that Impa's all like: "Link, you suck at life" just by extension. And I'm just realizing this now. Isn't that weird?"

"Hardly," She said, promptly, "I think it's good that you've become aware of the social dynamics on your team, especially since you're captains with Impa and you'll have to get along and do your teamwork thing despite her being a Sheikah, you being Byrne's friend, and having the weight of the scholarship competition hanging over everything. That being said, I also wouldn't stress about it – college apps will give you enough stress this year. Sheikah-Lokomo relations have never been strained; they're just socially awkward around each other. "

"Yeah, well I finished my college apps already, so I have plenty of time to dwell on this," He stated, flatly, "And that's not the impression I got from Byrne. The chronic evil eye I get from Impa seems to beg to differ too."

Zelda made an I-dunno gesture with the palm of her hand, "Well, I'm not a Lokomo. What did Byrne have to say about it? He'd probably be more insightful about it."

"He didn't actually have much to say about it. He mostly just avoided the question, but I was left with the impression that things were just…bad. Why? What do you mean by 'socially awkward'?"

She made some bizarre ambiguous gestures with her hands which reminded Link of jellyfish tentacles,"They're just…you know…socially awkward. It's sort of hard to explain. It's not that they're mean to each other; they just hate to intermingle. It's like torture for a Sheikah to exchange greetings with a Lokomo and vice-versa, but they still do it, you know?"

"Yeah, see…I don't understand that. Do they all have sticks up their butts or something?"

"I think you could possibly make case for that…." She grimaced, "Although I wouldn't state it quite like that!"

"I should tone it down a little?"

"Do you want my dad to come hurt you?"

"But your dad's not here, is he?"

"Good practice. He once put a restraining order on a poor kid I dated in middle school for saying 'crap'. You'd best be careful."

"Noted" He nodded, "But back to the Sheikah-Lokomo thing – why? Is there some long standing cultural barrier that's separating them from each other due to some fundamental yadah-yadah?"

She stared at him again, her eyes lighting in amusement and amazement while she giggled.

"I'm serious! It's driving me nuts! It's like I've gotta know," he said.

"I know you do" She responded, endearingly, still laughing, "…have I told you that I love you yet today?"

"Probably. Wouldn't hurt hearing it again, though."

"Hm…just for saying that, I'm withholding."

"Hm" He mimicked her "…then I'm withholding your birthday present."

"Ooh, now that's just cruel and unusual punishment," She gazed at him seriously, and paused, causing him to stop moving. She placed a finger on his chest. " Link, you do not refuse to give your girlfriend her birthday present. It's pretty much within the top ten rules of dating. You should know this, especially if your girlfriend's birthday just so happens to be tomorrow. If you do not want to risk the horrible, unspeakable ramifications of breaking the rules of dating, I highly suggest you reconsider."

"Well, I'm uncommonly knowledged, as you know, so I've obviously never heard to these so-called 'rules of dating'. "

She gave him a withering look.

"…however, after much judicious reconsideration…." He put his hands up and laughed, "I guess I have no choice, do I?"

"No, you don't." She turned and began walking again.

"You know, I could call you not telling me that you love me cruel and unusual punishment!" He called.

"Too bad you can't call that. It's in the rules: treat her like a queen," She declared, sashaying into the park entrance.

As he hopped after her through the wood-chipped path, he couldn't help but admire her. Just a tiny bit.

"Ugh. Why can't I be the girlfriend?" He muttered, jokingly under his breath.

"Sorry, sweetie," Zelda called back, finding a table to sit at, "Here: would you like me to explain why I think things are weird between the Sheikah and the Lokomo?"

"By all means, your highness," He gave an exaggerated bow, to which Zelda stuck her tongue out in response.

He swung his legs over the low sitting bench while Zelda settled her dress. She folded her hands and tilted her head, signaling that she was about to begin her lesson.

"Well, to start, what do you know of the Sheikah and the Lokomo?"

"Um…One's a group of ninjas, the other plays musical instruments? Yeah, I dunno," He responded sheepishly.

"For someone who's had plenty of time to get to know each, your knowledge of either group is sorely lacking," She said.

Another quirk: Zelda can be brutally honest.

"We'll see about that. How close was I?"

Return of the withering look – which apparently can wither even further.

"…not close. Got it," He nodded.

"Both the Sheikah and the Lokomo use musical instruments ritualistically, so you can't really argue that," She began, all serious and business like, "The Sheikah tend to get a rep because it's a tradition to study martial arts, but they can also be poetic when they want to be."

She waved her hand and a plume of baby-blue smoke billowed about the space before her. When the smoke cleared, she picked up a unicorn plush toy and multi-armed deity she had conjured for props.

"Essentially, the Lokomo consider themselves mediums of the spirits. They have their Tower of Spirits where they perform rituals to keep the benevolent and malevolent spirits of the dead pleased. The belief is that by keeping the people on the other side happy, by extension the spirits will bless us with good fortune and in turn keep us happy. So, spirits, rainbows, smiles, unicorns, you get the idea," She said, putting the unicorn down for Link to see. "The Sheikah believe themselves to be the Her Grace's chosen agents, and this is something of a problem in some sects where they still believe they're blessed by her divinity. Regardless, when Hyrule was still a monarchy, they protected the Royal Family and led the Hylian Guard for upwards two millennia as fulfillment of their covenant with Her Grace. So, gods…" She repeated the gesture with the very angry looking god figurine.

"Sheikah. Lokomo," She gestured to the sparkling unicorn and scowling asura, "They're just…socially awkward."

Link crossed his arms and made a scowl to match the figurine's,"That's literally the stupidest thing ever."

"Well, it's the only thing I could come up with." She quickly waved her hand again and the toys disappeared.

"No, not your idea. This! This unicorn/god thing. Jeez, you would think they were different species the way they behave towards each other!"

"But it sort of makes sense, doesn't it?"

"Okay, yeah. It makes sense. But at the same time, it's really, really stupid. I wish people would start realizing that people are, well, people, not this."

"You're a dreamer," She said, rising from the table.

"Am I though?" Link said, "I mean, sometimes I think I am, but other times I think we really can be just…people. You know?"

"Call me the cynical one. Hey, beat you to the swingset!" She took off running.

Link's leg caught on the bench,"Hey! No! Not fair!"

He fought to catch up, but she had already claimed the best swing on the set. He took a spot behind her, and began pushing her.

"And what was this about having a conversation regarding sex?" She turned to watch his face, "You do know that I'm not a virgin."

"Wait-w-what?!"

"Oh, you!"


	9. Chapter 9

"Yo, Tetra here. What can I do for ya?"

The voice that came flooding through the line sounded like the trail end of laughter. Nabooru thought she could hear the sound of Loftwings calling in the background, but she couldn't say for sure.

"Hi. It's me."

Nabooru had holed up in her room for about three days. Her dad's head early popped right off his shoulders, or, at least it certainly seemed it would with all the pressure he had built up. He'd gone red in the face(an accomplishment, considering his skin was even darker than hers) and yelled like a madman when he found her sitting on her bed, staring at a piece of paper for the third straight day in a row.

He promptly took the paper and ripped it before unceremoniously throwing the remains in the nearest trash can. Unsurprisingly, Nabooru flipped shit, threatened to run away, and remained in a fairly stormy mood until late morning when her dad got fed up and locked her out of the house. Something about needing fresh air and sunlight. In response, Nabooru screamed something along the lines of, "I'm not a fucking plant!" at the door, but it was useless.

It wasn't that she actually needed the piece of paper anymore - she'd memorized the number sometime within the temporal blur that was the past few days. It was the insensitive act of tearing it up that irked her to no end and stimulated her displeasure towards her dad, which kept her from returning to the house.

After several hours of brooding, she found herself sitting on a curb beside a bakery, killing time by pulling crab grass. She received a text from Byrne regarding their upcoming duet – something about needing to borrow his 'good guitar' for something-, and suddenly she had phone in hand and number dancing behind her eyelids. It was in that moment that she felt the gods were staring down at her, in all their judgment, like this was some sort of test they had planned for her. A test of what, she couldn't yet tell, but she found her fingers dialing as quickly as she could snatch items off a grocery shelf before she really had time to let herself ponder.

"Wait, sorry. Who is this?"

Nabooru shook her head and lip buzzed.

"I think you've got the wrong number," Tetra supplied, amused.

"By gods!" Nabooru exclaimed, "You stalk me and have the gall to say that? You're the one who handed me a number in a not-so-subtle gesture. How dare you!"

"OH! WAIT!" Tetra's voice nearly broke Nabooru's eardrum, and the Gerudo struggled not to drop her phone into the street, "Hey! I was hoping to hear from you sometime soon. I haven't seen you out and about lately, so, yeah. How're you?"

"pft. Fine."

"That's great!"

Nabooru began to feel her thoughts spin inside her head at a dizzying rate. It was as if she couldn't grasp one coherent thought long enough to make sense of it, which was disorienting as well as mildly terrifying considering she was on the phone with someone who really did have her fate in their hands.

"I'm very pleased you decided to call!" Tetra continued, "So, I take it you're interested?"

The other girl's words stopped the throbbing cyclone in Nabooru'shead and reset her focus. No, she would not allow the stalker any control over her, or this situation – not if she wanted to remain a free woman. She needed a plan, one she could hopefully enact without her parents (or any other authority powers that there be) finding out, and one that was within her capability of carrying out.

"Sure, yeah," She responded, one such plan coming to mind with the appeal of jumping into a volcano.

"Yes!"

Nabooru offhandedly wondered if the blonde had just fist pumped the air, rolling her eyes.

"So, what are you proposing?" The Gerudo offered, "We meet, do our thing, fool around, and you keep quiet about whatever you've seen me do over the past few months."

An uncomfortable silence met her and remained present for a very long while. Such a long while in fact that the Gerudo was just about ready to hang up when Tetra finally sighed.

"Oh dear…Is that what you thought this was?"

Nabooru blinked several times in confusion. That was what it was exactly, wasn't it? The two girls certainly didn't know one another; at least, Nabooru couldn't remember meeting Tetra prior to the whole stalker thing. For the blonde to actually propose something in the realm of romance was absolutely ludicrous!

"I'm sorry. Wow. That's a…bit embarrassing. I really didn't mean to come across that way to you."

And yet…here was the stalker herself claiming just that! Nabooru bit her lip, waiting for her mouth to autonomously come up with a fast response.

"Hello? Are you still there?"

Apparently, they were both kept waiting.

"Yeah," She finally managed, dryly, "Yeah, I'm still here."

"Are you still interested? I mean, I know it's really sudden, but I was hoping you would at least give me a chance."

"A chance?!" Nabooru pressed a hand to her brow, "And why the hell should I do that? You've violated my trust already by stalking me all summer. How do I know I can trust you now?"

"Ya know…I think you're willing to put more trust into me than you're letting on."

"And how do you figure that?" The Gerudo pressed, indignantly. Nabooru hated cockiness, unless of course, it was her own. She knew a challenge when she heard one, and this was not one she was willing to back down from.

"Because so far you've given me no reason to trust you," The Gerudo continued, "And I have done nothing to imply any!"

Tetra giggled, "Well…you called, didn't you?"

Nabooru felt a burning wave of…well, something rise up and boil over. Yes, she had called, but that was for different reasons! A total misunderstanding which stemmed from a miscommunication, which had occurred because there had been no communication(something that, with this girl, Nabooru wouldn't mind if she could help it) in the first place! This whole situation was a mess she couldn't really make much sense of, and , quite honestly, didn't want to make sense of anyway.

"See?" Tetra's voice brightened, "So there is something that motivated you to dial my number."

"I call it having a bad day," Nabooru responded, hoarsely.

"Well, I hope I at least could make it interesting."

"You have no idea."

"You're funny! Hey, I just realized that we've been talking, and I don't even know your name."

"It's Nab-blah-blaijf – Now why the fuck should I tell you?" The Gerudo snapped, angrily. She couldn't believe she'd almost slipped. To tell her stalker her name would relinquish her identity, her security, over to the one person who had the power to get her thrown in the slammer for a good long time if she wanted.

"Well, I told you mine, didn't I?"

Did the blonde honestly think such an insipid argument was going to work? Not a chance in hell!

"That was your loss, not mine."

"Oh, come on!"

"…"

"Ya know, it's sort of how I understand these things are supposed to work. I tell you a bit about me, you tell me a bit about you. That's how you establish this trust you seem to hold so dear, right? I trusted you with my name and number, why can't you entrust me with yours?"

"…"

"Hey! I can still hear you breathing, so I know you haven't hung up!"

"Tell you what?" Nabooru finally intoned, "I'm Gerudo – something you probably already knew from ogling me from a distance all summer. There aren't many of us in Castletown. Given your persistence, I can see you looking me up and figuring it all out on your own.

"Ah. It might come to that . At this rate it might be faster."

"Probably."

"Still, I would love to hear you say it out loud. I'm sure it's very pretty."

"…you don't give up."

"No, I don't. Would you?"

Nabooru's fingers tightened around the phone, "No, I probably wouldn't. Then again, I can usually land myself a date with someone without being tactless. I don't stalk people."

"Hey, and I don't ogle!"  
"Pft."

"I'll admit to admiring, but ogling no. And I wouldn't really say that I've been stalking you either."

"I beg to differ."

"Clearly – ack! Hold on a sec….LEEWARD! THAT'S RIGHT, MISTER, LET 'EM LUFF!"

Again, Nabooru felt as if her eardrum would burst and almost dropped her phone.

"Sorry about that!" Tetra returned, "There are some idiots out on the lake today."

"Ugh. What?"

"S'cuse me, where were we?"

"You're my stalker."

"Oh, that's right! So, your name?"

"Listen…" Nabooru hissed, " I don't feel comfortable…here: give me one reason why I should tell you."

She sat back with a smirk. Maybe that would show her. Tossing the question back was always an interesting tactic. She waited, wondering what the blonde would come up with.

"Well…I dunno," Tetra laughed, "Maybe it's because you secretly want to tell me but have convincingly maintained that you don't?

Nabooru gave a turn to laugh, "What a theory!"

"Well, you've had every chance in the world to hang up on me and you haven't, for one."

Nabooru continued to chuckle. If anything, Tetra was entertaining to listen to. Especially since she seemed to imply that she knew exactly what Nabooru's motivations were. The Gerudo had no desire to divulge any more information, whatsoever.

No desire at all!

At least, that's what she told herself.

"Go on," She purred over the line, "What else?"

"Like I said before," Tetra's voice suddenly became quite serious, and the smirk on Nabooru's face disappeared, "I think you've judged my character prematurely. I don't want to rat you out and I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. The truth is that we're very much alike, and I was hoping I could get to know you…so, when I ask, it isn't to get you into trouble, and it isn't because I'm some creep. I just wanted to meet you. And..well, now I highly doubt you're interested. Now that I think about it, I think you called because you're scared and, like you said, you're having a bad day. And maybe you were hoping to bribe me with some hush-sex or something because you don't know what else to do, but I want to reiterate that that's not what I'm after at all."

"Ah.." Nabooru was suddenly speechless.

"Wow…heh. I feel…kind of like an idiot. I was right about all that, huh?"

For awhile, Nabooru could not formulate a response, or at least a comprehensible one. She let out a few noncommittal sounds. The occasional, "tch", "um,", and "ffff". Recovering was much more difficult than it should have been.

It wasn't about Tetra knowing about the kleptomania anymore. It wasn't even about the stalking either. No, the power that Tetra now had, which alarmed Nabooru far above all else, was the fact that Tetra simply understood.

She'd nailed it. All of it.

And yet, wasn't even willing to judge her for it? What?

"I'm sorry I scared you. This is…really not how I'd imaged this going. I'd imagined…"

Gods, what was with this girl?

"What?" Nabooru demanded, her power over speech returning with a bite, "What were you hoping for, Tetra?"

"Ya know… I'm not really sure I want to tell you anymore."

Something in that line struck a chord within Nabooru. She suddenly wanted that piece of information with the clawing intensity of a beast. Maybe because she felt violated by Tetra's actions. Maybe it was because she felt vulnerable knowing that Tetra actually knew more about her than she Tetra, and yet the blonde was still asking for more.

Nabooru heard vulnerability in that last line. If there was one thing she liked to exploit, it was another's flaws. You could call it her crude sense of humor, she wouldn't be able to articulate exactly why she enjoyed delving knee deep in the faults of others, but there was a small nagging it of her which told her that it had something to do with a personal discomfort with her own imperfections.

She liked to ignore that part of her. It made things easier to deal with. Speaking of things she needed to deal with, she had a disembodied voice to exploit.

"Oh, I think you should," Nabooru mocked, "For the same reason I should tell you my name."

"…and what would that be…?"

"You tell me."

"Wh-…well, isn't it obvious?" Tetra said, rather quietly, "There's only ten percent of us. We're a minority.

"How do you mean?"

"Do I really need to say it?" Tetra squeaked, eliciting a cruel smile from Nabooru's lips.

"Yes," The Gerudo hissed.

She had to wait a moment. She heard a bizarre, mechanical click-click-click sound followed by what Nabooru imagined was a carpet being vigorously shaken in the wind.

"Well," Tetra sighed over the noises around her, "When you..like us. It's hard not to fall for a straight girl or two, and before you know it, you're picking up the pieces of your heart from off the floor. It gets tiring after awhile. Really, really tiresome. So, I'm…" She gave a breathy sigh, " I can't believe I'm actually…" She cleared her throat, "So, I'm looking for… specifically…another lesbian."

"Me," The Gerudo deadpanned.

"…right."

"And how would you know of my sexual orientation. I might not even be gay."

"Er- well, Midna pointed you out to me. You know Midna, right?"

Nabooru felt her face burn. Oh, she knew Midna alright. The question was: how did Tetra?

"Ah," She managed.

Nabooru made a mental note to give Midna a verbal thrashing the next time they met about the sanctity of privacy. That conspicuous little imp…

"In short," Tetra said, "I was hoping you would give me a chance…but I don't really think that's possible now, considering you only called because you wanted to make sure I didn't blab, and because you really don't seem interested…I mean, I just kinda put my heart out there, and you obviously aren't jumping for it. So…sorry for wasting your time – and for terrifying you. I can kind of see now how I was a bit…stalkerish."

A bit stalkerish? Wait, what was this? An apology?

Nabooru felt a bit like she had been punched in the gut. She pulled half of her face with her free hand. There were very few confessions people simply can't bullshit. Statement such as the one Tetra just made? Either one-hundred percent genuine or one-hundred percent crap, but Nabooru was ninety-seven percent sure it was the former in this case.

For the first time in awhile she felt guilty for pushing someone. Maybe because the confession hit close to home, or because she knew she could, in fact, relate to the subject at hand. Nabooru had a feeling, though, that it was more or less having to do with the fact that despite Nabooru outwardly denying her sexuality, Tetra still was brave enough to put herself out there.

And that in itself was mildly terrifying. The thought of just being honest and straightforward was something that Nabooru had the tendency to shy away from, which was beginning to be a problem in her case. But when it came down to being honest about her sexuality, she felt she would never be comfortable with it.

Perhaps she had been a tad harsh.

Damn paranoia, she thought. What the hell is wrong with you?

"Tetra…"

"Yeah?" The hope in Tetra's voice made her feel like an asshole.

It took Nabooru a moment to swallow her pride (something very arduous and physically painful for a Gerudo to do).

"I'm..sorry. For my shitty behavior. You probably don't deserve it. You freaked me out though. I had no idea who you were, what you were doing, or why you kept showing up."

"Oh…"

"Right…" She took a breath, throwing caution to the wind and a rather weary glance skyward where she knew the gods were still staring down at her with all their judgement. "My name is Nabooru."

"Nabooru," Tetra repeated.

"Yeah."

"…I like it."

"Thanks…so!" Nabooru took another breath, "Impress me."

"Hm?"

Nabooru compressed her lips. Baby dyke much?

"Take me somewhere. Your favorite spot or something."

"Hmmm…my favorite spot, she says? Are you giving me a chance?"

"Sure sounds like it," Nabooru affirmed.

"Wow…okay! Tomorrow at noon. Are you busy?"

"Nope," Nabooru mentally cleared her schedule of 'time with Dad'.

"Great. I would love it if you would meet me at the public library near the highschool. There's a bus stop that goes out of Castletown."

Nabooru nodded, which she found silly and scowled since she was talking into a phone, "Right. Sounds good. Should I bring anything?"

"Mmmm…a bathing suit and towel."

"Cool. It's a date."

"A date then. Nabooru, thank you for trusting me!"

Nabooru hung up.

Once again, Nabooru found herself wonder just exactly what the hell just happened. She returned her gaze skyward, feeling as if she had just failed miserably the test the gods had set before her.


	10. Chapter 10

"So, who's Tetra?"

Nabooru spun on the curb and glared maliciously at the way-too-close bulk of her father's form.

He was sweating, the salty-sour scent rolling off his beaded brow and wetted underarms. Nabooru wrinkled her nose, maintaining the scowl.

"Did you follow me?" she snapped.

"I thought you were going to the park," he rebutted, "this is a dangerous section of town. You know better than to come out here alone."

Supposedly, she also knew better than to shoplift every dollar store in Castletown. She shrugged.

"Is he a druggie?"

"Who?"

"Tetra?"

Nabooru almost cringed at how her dad could think a very un-masculine name like Tetra would ever belong to a boy, but she supposed that people would believe what they wanted to.

"No, Dad. Tetra's just fine. And I thought you wanted me outside."

"Yeah, it in a safe part of town. I was worried. Come home now. I'm...I'm sorry I blew up at you like that. It wasn't fair of me. I just….you worry me sometimes. Why don't you hang out with Byrne more often? He's a nice guy."

"I'm playing a duet with him for the induction, Dad! I see him plenty enough!" She took to her feet and began marching in the opposite direction of her house. "Quit trying to get involved in my social life!"

"Hey!" His growl stopped Nabooru cold in her feet. "It's my job to get involved in your social life because I am your father, and a part of that job is to make sure you never get hurt by the people around you. You're a good girl, Nabooru. And if you would just let me in and talk to me - have an actual civil conversation would be nice - then maybe we can sort out why we're having all these communication issues. I love you."

The young Gerudo suddenly felt a surge of some powerful emotion overcoming the feisty rage sitting in her chest, and though she felt tears beginning to burn her eyes and blur her vision, she kept them back.

"I love you, and I don't care what mistakes you've made that have made you feel like a bad person, or what people you've associated with who have made you feel so terrible about showing who you really are. All that matters to me is that you're safe and that you're happy."

Something intuitive told her that he had just opened his arms. And for reasons she couldn't actually tell if a gun were to be pointed to her head, she went up to him and wrapped her arms around his thickening torso.

"Yeah, I love you too, Dad."

They parted, and he began leading her back towards their neighborhood. Between flicking his eyes up now and then to see who was coming down the sidewalk and to take in the discouraging state of some of the buildings, he kept his eyes on Nabooru as she walked with a sort of blank expression on her face.

"So, are you going to tell me about this Tetra guy? I mean, he is a nice guy, right?"

She nodded, lines deepening in her forehead. "I...well, we're only run into each other a few times, so I don't know yet?"

For perhaps half a second, she entertained the half baked notion of telling him the truth about Tetra.

"Well...whoever he is, I'll trust your judgement. At the very least, you're not a lesbian!"

But then it became very apparent that that would be the worst idea to execute, ever, in the history of poor ideas in which Nabooru had had the pleasure of partaking.

She scoffed, "The hell, Dad?"

He gafawed, "Just checking," and she nervously, albeit, convincingly, joined in.  
\----------

"Did you know Nabooru's mom was a lesbian?"

Tetra's eyebrows rose. The blurt was both disconnected from the conversation they just were having about the phone call, yet relevant and intriguing enough to fix the sailor's attention onto it. There was something almost apprehensive about Midna's demeanor as they waited at the bust stop for the round trip to Castletown, and it made Tetra nervous.

"They got a divorce just around the time Nabooru started figuring out her own sexuality," Midna finished.

"Mmm…" The blonde acknowledged, shifting uncomfortably. "Must have been hard."

The Twili smirked, "You think? Well...her dad's never forgiven the bitch...and neither has Nabooru for that matter."

Tetra let the words sink in, and rolled her tongue in her mouth, mulling her feelings over. Finally, she ventured, "Should you even be telling me this? I mean...thanks? I guess, for the intel. But this all seems a little too private for you to be telling me."

"Sure can't be private now since you're planning on dating her. Trust me, I know from experience." The Twili crossed her arms, almost smugly, though on closer inspection she seemed to be gathering her thoughts. "We were sort of friendly acquaintances. After spending a little time with her, I caught on and approached her about it."

Tetra rolled her eyes, "You must have some pretty impressive gaydar. And you...approached her about it?" The blonde sighed, muttering ,"Nosy."

"One does not stare longingly at scantily clad lady models, then obtusely comment about a semi-attractive dude in passing. And yeah, we were in some mall. I kissed her..but she was scared."

Tetra's eyes bulged, "And she's accusing me of being too upfront. I would be scared too."

"No no no, you don't get it at all." Midna put on a trademark deviant's grin. Toothy, and up to no good. "I had her moaning and gasping into my mouth. She wanted it." She waited for Tetra to stop squirming before she continued. "She wanted it," she reiterated, losing the grin, "and that's what scares her shitless. It reminds her of her mom...But whatever. Things worked out for us for a little while. I told her I was pan, and looking for an open relationship. She said she was cool with it, and we dated for a little while until she started stealing shit all over town."

Midna glanced over, caught Tetra's demoralized face. "Sorry. There's not many people I can have these kinds of conversations with. Certainly not Zelda."

"Oh…"

"I'm just saying, if you're looking for a super stable, emotionally reciprocative relationship, you're not going to find that with Nabooru. The girl's got a load of issues."

Tetra heaved a long sigh that slumped her back and transformed her features into something like loneliness.

Midna fought the urge to roll her eyes, "You hopeless romantics," she growled, jutting her chin towards the threadbare red bandana around Tetra's neck. "Why're you still wearing that rag? Makes you look like a stupid Western extra."

The blonde hylian tugged at the cloth, grasping it protectively. "It contains sentimental value.

"Damn." The Twili shook her head as the bus rolled in. As Tetra stood up to board, Midna called, "for what it's worth? Good luck tomorrow."

"Thanks."

"Yeah...well I mean it. For both of your sakes."

\----------

"Hello, Groose."

Impa's voice was colder than Snowpeak ice. Groose, immune to the chill sweeping in over the line, responded jovially.

"Impa! You called!" He exclaimed, excitement boiling over.

The Sheikah nodded even though she was sitting on her couch and he obviously couldn't see her. Her father sat beside her, the weight of body pulling her towards him in the dip of the white cushion. The late afternoon light hazily drifted through a curtained window onto the pair in the box-like living room.

Her father wordlessly gestured for her to continue before returning his arms to their habitual folded position across his chest.

"Yes, are you free tomorrow night?" Her tongue felt numb, her voice devoid of all emotion. She waited with dread pooling in her abdomen as she practically felt the boy's excitement radiating through the phone in her hands. She counted the number of times she felt her pulse surge through her body while she waited for an answer.

"Tomorrow night? Is this a date?"

"I suppose it is."

"Absolutely! I'm the freest guy of the night!"

Impa cringed. Her father scowled, and she cleared her throat while shifting into an almost fetal position.

"Good to hear," she forced. "There's a restaurant down the way off of Ashei's Alley. Semi-formal, six-thirty. I have a reservation.."

"Sweet, sweet, sweet! I'll be there! So, what changed your mind? Couldn't stay away from my charm? No! I bet it was my hair!"

"Something like that. Good night, Groose."

"W-wait! Hold on a - "

-click!-

"I have finished," she stated to the air in formal Sheikah, her voice never modulating from the cold tone as she had used on the telephone with Groose .

"Good," was the response. It was a command to leave.

She popped up from the couch and made a straight pass to her room, the stale tasting air stirring rigidly around her. Only once she had stepped over the threshold to her room and closed the heavy wooden door did she let out a tense breath and sink onto the bed in the corner.

Things were going to be just fine, she reasoned, relatively calm given the situation. The way she saw things, she had two options: play Groose for a few dates before dumping him - attractive, because then he would leave her alone - or she could meet him, tell him she was involved with someone else, and then be on her way. The problem with the latter, however, was that the persistent pain in the neck might ask questions, and then begin snooping…

A third option began taking shape in her mind, and certainly felt more attractive than the other two possibilities. She lit from the bed and sat down at the shared desk between her and her cousin (who was currently out working) and sent out an email to a contact succinctly entitled "HIM".

Before shutting the laptop down, she went to clear the browsing history in the event that her cousin had used it to look up anything. It was unlikely since her cousin did have her own laptop, and Impa was practically OCD about other people touching her things. However, on occasion, her cousin would have computer problems and use Impa's instead.

She went through the rote mechanics of opening the web browser, finding the settings and tools buttons. She was on her way to select the "clear browsing history" button when she suddenly read latest search entry and nearly had an aneurysm.

Lokomo Culture and Customs: All You Need to Know About This Unique Indigenous Hyrulean Tribe

Involuntarily, the Sheikah clenched her fists and hissed, "Damn it, Sheik!"


End file.
